A Shadow, a Light, and a Sky
by UnknownUnseenUnheard
Summary: Sora is four years old when he first starts hearing the weird voices in his head. In which Ventus and Vanitas, instead of sleeping, are perfectly awake and causing chaos in the back of Sora's head. Warning: Chapter 11 has KH III spoilers
1. The Sky is Speaking

A/N: So, I barely finished Dream Drop DIstance hehe. Yes, I know, shocking. Anyyyyyways, I was inspired to make this immediately afterwards. Enjoy :)

Published: 12/28/2017

Warnings: General spoilers here and there

* * *

 ** **Chapter 1****

 **The Sky is Speaking**

Ventus blinked.

Somehow, impossibly, he was back on Destiny Islands. Why he was here of all places was beyond him, but it felt kinda… Off. Why would it feel off? Hm. There was the sun, shining brightly in the sky, reflecting against the cool blue of the ocean around them. The sand beneath his feet was nice and warm, but not hot. Just the right temperature. The trees and vines that surrounded him looked strong and firm.

This place really did look like a paradise.

Although, why Ven was back was beyond him. He didn't even know where the world was. This is where Terra had instinctively sent him with a casual wave of his hand as he confronted their Master.

How exactly did that confrontation turn out, anyways? Wait, no. That wasn't what mattered right now. What mattered was what Ventus had been doing before he had woken up back on this quint little getaway. Ventus had been fighting someone. He had been fighting someone important, and the clash of him against the other had-

Suddenly, there was a loud painful oomph and an explosion of sand. Spinning, Ventus turned towards the noise.

As the dust cloud began to clear, Ventus paled rapidly before attempting to summon his Keyblade. Keyword here being 'attempt' as Ventus could only stare in horror at his own had as his precious Keyblade refused to answer his call. Never more did he need the blade more than now, and now was the time it had annoyingly decided to stop responding to him.

"Ah! Fuck! That hurt!"

Vanitas. The dark haired boy had fallen from the skies in a heap, facedown into the sand. Ventus lamented that the sand was warm instead of burning hot. If anyone deserves to have their faces burned by hot sand, it was Vanitas. Not that it would do much. Ventus had tried repeatedly to light Vanitas on fire, and it hadn't really phased the other at all.

Vanitas lifted himself onto his hands before pushing up, ending up on his knees as he glanced around, taking in the sights of the place around him. His cold yellow eyes snapped onto each and every thing before, at long last, landing on Ventus.

Ventus winced.

A heartbeat thudded audibly. Then, another. For several seconds, Vanitas seemed locked in shock, not moving, not doing anything at all.

Then, the inevitable.

With a roar, Vanitas tossed himself at Ventus like a crazed animal, fists and claws and teeth. Ventus could be forgiven for the shrill shriek he let loose as he was tacked into the ground by his rather furious dark half.

"YOU! WE COULD HAVE BEEN ONE AGAIN! WE COULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETE! BUT, YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN IT, AGAIN!"

"Ah! Get the hell of you twisted psychopath! You were trying to hurt my friends! Get off!"

Despite the fact that Ventus didn't have a weapon on him, he was also a mage and a mage is never defenseless. Sure, it's better and more effective to channel magic through an object, like, oh, I don't know, annoying Keyblades that refuse to show up when called, but Ventus could improvise.

Vanitas was blasted back as a swirl of wind surrounded Ventus and pushed. Jumping to his feet, Ventus took several steps back as Vanitas twisted in the air, landing feet first and catlike. Vanitas shot his other half a glare before lifting his right arm above his head in a familiar stance.

Ventus paled. Shit. Vanitas was already stronger than him, physically. There was no denying that. Ventus was a twig and Vanitas was built like Terra. It had taken everything Ventus had to defeat the other, and with Keyblades taken out of the equation, he might still have a chance.

However, if Vanitas was armed with a weapon while Ventus himself had none,was not, there was no doubt how it would turn out.

Ventus wanted to scream.

What the hell had been the point of anything if it had just led them here, and Vanitas was going to win anyways? Weren't the good guys suppose to win instead? Except, apparently, fate had other ideas. Well, fate could go stick it where the sun don't shine, because Ventus had had enough and-

"What hell?" Vanitas stared at his own hand, stupefied. Waving it several times, he flexed his wrist and fingers repeatedly in an attempt to summon a blade that wouldn't heed his call. Vanitas lowered his arm, gripping it with the other hand at the wrist, shaking his right arm repeatedly. "Come on, stupid thing. Work!"

…

"Ha! You can't summon yours either!" Ventus cheered, pointing wildly as he resisted the urge to jump up and down like a toddler hopped up on chocolate bars and energy drinks. Vanitas stared him blankly as Ventus let out a near hysterical laugh. Then, Vanitas narrowed his eyes as his face twisted into a snarl.

Dropping into a hand to hand stance, Vanitas growled.

"Doesn't matter. I don't need a Keyblade to take out a weakling like you. I will break-

" _ **Wow! Cool! Where'd these awesome swords come from? NEAT! I gotsta show Riku!"**_

Ventus and Vanitas both froze.

Absentmindedly, the pair of them stared at the sky, where the booming voice of a child had emanated from before looking back to each other.

"... That wasn't just me, right? I'm not hearing voices now too, am I?" Ventus couldn't help the small pleading in his tone, even if it was towards the literal source of all his problems. Vanitas, of course, did as expected and offered no sympathy. Instead, the dark haired boy sneered at him, expression ugly and furious.

"You were always crazy, Ventus. The only difference is, you've now infected me as well."

" _ **Huh? Why are there voices in my head? Can you guys hear me too? Are yah there cause I let that pretty light rest in my heart?"**_

Once again, the sky boomed at them. Once again, both Ventus and Vanitas were left speechless. Then, Vanitas' form sagged as he face palmed. Ventus blinked in confusion.

"Seriously, Ventus? You merged with a fuckin' kid? For fu-"

" _ **That's not a nice word! Riku says words like tha, but mommy says if she hears me sayin' 'em she's gonna make me eat a couple of jale-ja- those spicy thingies."**_

Vanitas responded to this statement by turning around, finding the nearest tree, and slamming his face against that instead, all while muttering about annoying other halfs that were apparently willing to merge with random children but not their literal other half.

Vanitas was only trying to restart a war that would tear apart the known universe into pieces on top of the broken corpses of Ventus' best friends. Was that so bad?

It was in that moment, looking at Vanitas slamming his head and looking at the sky from which the voice came, that Ventus realized that, amazingly, he was the sanest one here. With a wince, Ventus looked up and thought a quick apology to the poor kid up there.

" _ **Huh? It's okay, mr shiny light. Glad I could help! Hm. Now… How to pull these heavy sword thingies!"**_

Heavy sword thingies?

Vanitas lifted his head from the tree, spinning to stare at Ventus as both of their eyes widened in a stark realization.

In the outside world, inside the confines of his rather messy room, a four year old Sora grunted as he attempted, and failed, to lift one of the two cool metal swords that had literally appeared out of nowhere when he was sleeping


	2. Time Out

A/N: For those that asked, I do intent to do the entire series with this. Although, I'm divided between going with a linear timeline, or going more along the lines of Anakin Skywalker and Time Traveling Grandchildren and just throwing scenes in at random

Published: 1/10/2018

Warnings: None for this chapter

 **Bold: Vanitas**

 _Italics: Ventus_

 _ **Bold Italics: Sora**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Time Out**

It was in that moment that Sora decided he would always listen to Riku, because Riku's ideas were the bestest ever and they got him the coolest toys. Heavy cool toys, but still. Hm. Reluctantly, Sora stopped trying to lift the darker metallic sword that, for some reason, had a creepy eye that wouldn't stop staring at him. Instead, he opted to try and lift the small of the two swords, since it looked a lot lighter.

This one was a little more curved, bronze metal shining in the light with ragged teeth at the end. Sora grunted slightly as he tried to lift it.

 _Hey! Hey! Stop that! You'll hurt yourself!_

 **Hurt himself? Who cares if he hurts himself? GIVE ME MY KEYBLADE BACK SO I CAN KILL THIS SORRY EXCUSE FOR ANOTHER HALF, YOU LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!**

Sora jumped as the voice thundered in his head. Then, with a mix of a frown and a pout, the four year old glared at the eye on the darker metal sword. Keyblade, right? That's what is was called.

Sora knew logically that the dark Keyblade wasn't the Shadow in his head, but it was the closest thing to it. So, staring straight into the eye, Sora yelled right back.

"Hurtin' other people's isn't nice! I'm gonna put you in time out 'cause you're a meany head!" Sora threatened.

A thousand years earlier, the Master of Masters blinked repeatedly. How in the hell had a child figured out the eye on the blade was his? And, why was the child threatening him, anyways?

…

 _Pff… Haha! Behave, Vanitas, or the little kid is gonna put you in the corner!_

 **Shut up! Ah ha! That still works!**

 _Why can you cast a Dark Firaga? Owe!_

Sora winced, the Keyblade he had finally managed to lift dropping to the ground as his tummy suddenly started to feel warm all of a sudden. Huh. Weird. Whatever. Finally managing to haul the blade over his shoulder, Sora turned and ran out of the room, determined to find Riku and show him the cool new toys the Light he'd let into his heart had given him.

* * *

Ventus was always quick on his feet. He didn't have the raw overwhelming power of Terra. He didn't have the versatile magical repertoire of Aqua. He did, however, move quicker than either of his two companions, which was really how he managed to keep up with them half of the time.

Vanitas, unfortunately, was made from him. Vanitas wasn't as quick as Ventus, but he came damn close. What he lost in speed, he made up for in power and quick brutal spellwork. Without a Keyblade to channel the spells, they weren't as powerful as they could be, but they were still pretty strong.

Ventus dodged as yet another palm tree was lit on fire with blue flames. It would be ash in seconds. Dark Firaga was one twisted spell.

Now, if Ventus could get close enough to cast Salvation, he might have a chance. That took charge time, though, and that was with a Keyblade. Without one, Ventus wasn't entirely sure if he'd be able to control the Light Magic Spell properly.

"Stand still!" Vanitas growled as he swung, letting loose a barrage of ice shards that Ventus cleanly knocked back with a burst of wind.

"Why in the world would I do that?" Ventus demanded.

"So I can burn you to ashes!"

Ventus had a good comeback. Against Vanitas, he always had a good comeback. Half of Vanitas' defeat could be attributed to Ventus verbally destroying his other half, therefore demoralizing him. However, as Ventus was about to speak it, Vanitas caught up with him.

Fingers curled around Ventus' throat and the ground disappeared beneath him. The sky swayed above him as Vanitas lifted and pulled before slamming Ventus down as hard as he could into the earth below.

Sand. So much sand.

Ventus' vision swam, dark spots appearing as he struggled for breath. Above him Vanitas lifted his free hand, his left, and Dark Lightning began to cackle on his fingertips.

"I am done playing around! I'm going to do what I should have done years ago!"

Shit. Ventus couldn't move. He couldn't breathe either. His concentration was shot, broken by the curling fingers on his throat choking the life out of him. Vanitas was going to finish him here and now and, even if he didn't, isn't this how things were going to end anyways?

They were stuck here, inside the mind of a little kid. A little kid Ventus had condemned, because he had no doubt that after he was taken care of, Vanitas would take over the kid. The kid wouldn't be able to stop it either. Ventus hadn't been able to stop his own possession. Shattering it had taken everything he had. No child would be able to do the same.

Tears glistened in Ventus' eyes.

He'd messed up. He'd messed up bad, and now, a child was going to pay the pri-

 _ **"I said stop bein' a meany head!"**_

With those words, Vanitas was tossed right off Ventus. Ventus gave a gasping breath, coughing several times. What? What was that? Blinking the darkness away, Ventus managed to sit up. Then, he blinked a few more times, wondering if he was dreaming. But, no, it didn't go away. Ventus supposed this could be a very vivid dream, but he doubted it.

The sight before him didn't change. Well, except for one little detail.

Vaniats growled and began to let loose blasts of magical energy at the literal mini cell that surrounded him from all corners. He was trapped, for whatever reason, inside a square metal prison box, bars running in all directions. Above, below, at the sides, every which way.

His efforts were for naught and one rather malplaced Thundaga rebounded for obvious reasons, leaving Vanitas with crazier hair than usual.

Vanitas hissed.

"Brat! Release me!" he roared up at the sky.

 _ **"Nuh uh. You were being a meany head, so I'm putting you in time out."**_

Vanitas twitched.

Ventus couldn't help it. Falling back into the sand, he started to laugh. Oh god. He was losing his mind. At the very least, the insanity was amusing though.

* * *

Riku was minding his own business when Sora barreled into him. He had been walking home from school on his own because he was a big boy now and big boys could do that. He had been whitling a little tune to himself when Sora came crashing into him, sending his school bag flying onto the side of the road.

Sora had a habit of doing that. Never watching where he was going. Riku groweld, pushing the other boy off of him.

"Sora! Watch where you're going!"

"Riku! Look what that pretty light you told me to help gave me!"

Riku blinked as he was presented with a strange key shaped weapon. At that moment, he had a flashback to a muscular young man waving a similar sword around, only his had been more solid, designed for hitting and blunt damage. This one looked more like it was designed for speed, slashing here and there wildly.

"... You have got to be kidding me."

Sora responded with a wide grin as he attempted to wave the Keyblade around. Keyword being attempt. The Keyblade was, unfortunately, too heavy for a child. There was a reason Ventus used to wave around a wooden one even when he could summon the real thing.

"Woah!" Sora toppled over, falling headfirst into the sidewalk as Riku couldn't help but facepalm.


	3. Perfection Personified

A/N: Hi guys! How're you all?

Published: 1/14/2018

Warnings: None

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Perfection Personified**

Vanitas was currently contemplating infanticide. Or was it filicide? Homicide? Fratricide? He wasn't sure. Wait, no. The last one didn't match properly. Maybe if he was trying to kill Ventus, he could call it fratricide. Or would it be assisted suicide?

Regardless, Vanitas had now found the one person he loathed more than Ventus and Master Xehanort combined. Vanitas had never believed the day would come where he would come across someone he detested more than Ventus, but lo and behold, the day had come.

Several feet away, another snicker ripped past Ventus' lips.

"When I get out of this cage, I will tear you limb from limb." Vanitas promised.

"Don't let the kid hear you say that! He might decide to make your timeout longer!"

Vanitas roared. Incidentally, he also discovered that his shadow phase ability, which he had frequently used to go underground before popping up and slashing at his enemies with a mix of elemental magic, still worked.

Ventus blinked several times as Vanitas sunk into the ground, right below his cage. Then, a red shadow seemed to crawl along the ground. Crawl was not the right word. It came quickly, like a stampede intent on crushing him with all the rage in the world.

Ventus' mirth died quickly as he scrambled up before leaping high into the air, landing on a small little wooden shack just as Vanitas burst though the ground in a massive array of flames and ice.

"VENTUS! STOP MOVING SO I CAN KILL YOU!"

"Crap… Little kid boy! He got out of your cage!"

Ventus should not have said anything. Not only did the kid not respond, he attracted Vanitas' attention as the dark Keyblader spun towards him. Vanitas barred an impressive set of fangs that made Ventus question whether or not the pair of them were even human before he leapt into the air, dark energy starting to gather at his fingertips.

Joy. This again.

* * *

Sora tilted his head, listening to a pair of voices only he could hear. They seemed to argue a lot. Maybe they were brothers? Sora personally didn't had any siblings, but Riku did come pretty darn close.

Beside him, the aforementioned silver haired boy was experimentally waving the cool sword. The Keyblade. Sora was a bit miffed that Riku could wave it around so easy when Sora himself could hardly lift it.

He was a bit more annoyed, though, by the sound of Shadow chasing Light around like a wild madman. Did he have nothing better to do that to break out of Sora's wonderfully crafted cages? Sora had put a lot of work into the last one too! He'd even made bars above and below just for Shadow, but Shadow just had to break it.

Sora winced as he heard Light scream. A wince that did not go unnoticed by Riku, who stopped swinging Sora's cool new toy.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, tiny face scrunched in concern.

So, Sora told him, explaining to his friend how the Shadow kept attacking the Light and how his great awesome idea of a cage didn't really work because the Shadow lived up to his name and slipped his way out like a, well, shadow.

"What should I do Riku?" Sora asked, lips quivering.

Riku contemplated for several seconds, wearing his thinking face.

"... It's your head, right?" Riku asked. Sora nodded. It was his head. "Then you should be able to go in and stop 'em yourself if you concentrate!" Riku realized.

Sora's eyes widened.

"You're right! Your the best Riku! I'll do that now!" Sora couldn't help but cheer. Aha! This had to work. Riku's ideas always did. They got him a cool looking sword, afterall.

Riku blinked.

"Wait, now?"

Sora didn't answer. Instead, he closed his eyes as his body swayed. The Keyblade in Riku's hands vanished in a flurry of light as Sora's body fell forward.

"Wait, damn it Sora! Too soon!" Riku scrambled to catch his friend before the younger boy smashed his head into the ground. He didn't want to deal with Sora's mom breathing down his neck asking why her precious baby had been harmed in his presence. Again.

He barely managed to catch Sora who, of course, only snored.

* * *

Ventus cackled as he finally managed to summon a tornado. A bit higher on the magical tier, but if Vanitas could fling around Dark Fiaragas like it was no ones business, he should be able to do this.

"A tornado? You summoned a tornado?! That's cheating!"

"Die!" Ventus gleefully exclaimed.

Vanitas attempted to dodge. To Ventus joy, even Vanitas wasn't fast enough to get out of the way of an oncoming twister, however, and his darker half got caught in the gale. Ventus' joy, however, shattered as the tornado was blasted apart and a surprised looking Vanitas fell onto…Pillows? Where had the pillows come from?

"The two of you gotsta stop being mean to each other!" a tiny, high pitched voice called out.

Ventus and Vanitas both spun. There, several feet away from them, standing proudly on the sand with his arms crossed, stood what Ventus could only describe as a mini Vanitas. His hair arched in the same ridiculous spikes and his skin, while paler, carried a tan. His eyes, unlike Vanitas, were sky blue.

"You!" Vanitas thundered as he rose. His anger melted, however, as he seemed to realize who had appeared before them. Vanitas's expression slowly changed from anger to… Affection? What in the world?

Ventus' eyes darted back and forth. Oh god. A terrible idea slowly began to form in Ventus's head. Impossible, it was impossible. However, improbable as it was, Ventus had to admit, it would explain a few things.

Had Vanitas reproduced? Wait, did that mean that this was Ven's kid? He was too young to be a dad, dammit!

The boy's eyes lit up.

"Oh hey! You're the guy with the cool animals!" The boy cheered.

"... cool animals?" Ventus couldn't help but question.

Vanitas coughed.

"Yeah! It was interesting and blue and had weird little claws, but he was cuddly!" the boy explained.

Ventus was lost.

"He… He found one of my Floods and… Took him as a pet." Vanitas grudgingly admitted.

Ventus blinked several times. The kid had done what?!

"Yeah! But, Blue went away." the boy's expression fell, turning sad.

The clues, the evidence, was mounting by the second, and Ventus couldn't take it anymore.

"Did you reproduce while I wasn't looking?"

Ventus was rewarded with the image of Vanitas, of all people, turning cherry red. He didn't think Vanitas was capable of such an expression.

"What? No!"

"Then why does he look like you!" Ventus gestured at the kid.

Vanitas crossed his arms and shrugged. "Maybe he just lucked out. I am perfection personified, afterall." Vanitas punctuated his point by flexing a bit, smirking a bit as he eyed Ventus' scrawny frame, which got him an eye roll from Ventus and a cheer from the kid.


	4. The Battle of the Ages

A/N: I so need a new phrase. I use after all wayyyyy too much. Hm. I used to have the same problem with the word 'honestly'

I almost put Sora using a Command Style in this one, but I think I'll keep those out of the story. Why he almost used one is explained below.

Anyways, enjoy (:

Published: 1/20/2018

Warnings: None

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **The Battle of the Ages**

Ventus could not believe the day he had had. He also couldn't believe that he was currently sitting next to Vanitas, of all people, and neither of them were trying to kill the other, just like they had on almost every other occasion that they'd come across each other. No, instead the pair of them were just laying in the sand, staring up at the darkening sky as stars glowed down above them. The only break to the picture was the sound of Sora's snores.

Every other time Ventus had been near Vanitas, they would either fight or Vanitas would say some psychological blah blah because he liked messing with Ventus. This was the first time Ventus could remember were they weren't trying to harm one another in some way.

It felt… Weird. Not for the first time, Ventus pinched himself. He didn't wake up from the dream, though. Well. If this was a dream. Ventus wasn't entirely sure anymore, but, if it was, wouldn't Terra and Aqua also be here?

Vanitas tipped back a beer and chugged at it as if it were water and he hadn't had a drink in days. Where in the hell Vanitas had gotten beer from inside a kid's mind, Ventus didn't know, but Vanitas had managed it.

"So, you're sure you didn't reproduce?"

Ventus was rewarded by the words as Vanitas' cheeks once again flared like the color of the flames he was so fond of tossing in every direction. Vanitas choked a bit on his drink, some of the alcohol spilling on his chest as he turned and shot Ventus a glare. Ventus responded with an innocent smile reminiscent of angels.

Fallen ones, that is.

Vanitas growled.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now, stop annoying me before I decide that harming you will be worth whatever Sora has cooked up in case I do just that again."

Vanitas shuddered.

After they had settled down, Sora had turned on Vanitas, threatening to stick him inside a bloody sealed hamster ball complete with extra shock features in case Vanitas tried to attack 'the shiny light' again since it was giving Sora a headache and brothers were supposed to get along, not beat each other senseless.

Tch. He and Ventus weren't brothers. Vanitas was the superior half, plain and simple. Why else would he have taken over after they had joined into one?

"He adopted a Flood." Ventus deadpanned.

Vanitas shrugged.

"He said it looked cute, okay? I don't get the minds of annoying little children." Vanitas stated, waving his hand dismissively.

Ventus snorted.

"You didn't look like you found him annoying. Hell, you looked fond of him." Ventus said slyly.

Vanitas twitched. Ignoring Ventus, he took another swig of his beer. Huh. If Vanitas could make something appear by just thinking it, could Ventus do the same? Ventus titled his head to the side, a look of concentration forming on his face.

Vanitas turned.

"... Why do you look constipated?"

"AHA!" Ventus, ignoring him, shouted victoriously as glorious ice cream appeared before him. Vanitas nearly dropped his beer. Ventus gleefully dug in as a spoon appeared out of thin air, scooping up a strawberry of all things.

"... What is that?"

"Double crunch. Want some?" Ventus offered the bowl, a smile lighting his face. Vanitas froze. Ventus himself paused, seemingly not believing the words had passed from his mouth. This was Vanitas they were talking about, after all. Evil incarnate. So evil that evil literally sprouted from him in droves. A tiny miny army of monsters.

Monsters, that some kid on some tiny little island world had taken one look at, deemed it adorable, and took it in.

Before Ventus could pull the bowl back, Vanitas reached, hand taking the small little chocolate keyblade right out of Ventus' bowl. Scooping up some of the ice cream, Vanitas popped it in his mouth without a word.

He chewed once. Twice. Then, an expression Ventus recognized well appeared on his darker half's face, and Ventus instantly regretted offering him anything.

Vanitas had Aqua's 'CHOCOLATE!' face. Ventus had a brief flashback of a strange underwater world he had once visited, complete with a talking sponge selling candy bars and a downright psychotic fish hungrily devouring it all.

Vanitas had that exact same expression. He had that exact same expression, and his eyes had darted up, staring ravenously at Ventus' prize.

"Oh no you don't! This is mine!" Ventus snapped, rising up.

Vanitas' eyes shot up.

"Brothers are suppose to share." Vanitas stated cooly as he himself rose.

"You aren't my brother! Terra was my brother, and I'll never see him again because of you!" Ventus snarled.

"Oh, come on. I didn't even do anything to that one." Vanitas complained with a roll of his eyes. Then, he tilted his head. "Oh wait. I think I Thundaga'd him. Once."

Ventus didn't bother with a response. Instead, he turned and ran, spoon rapidly darting towards his treat. Vanitas blinked for a few seconds before taking off right after him.

"Hey! Stop! Share, dammit! What's yours is mine!"

"Screw off!"

Then, the sky starting booming at them again, the ground beneath them shaking with the force of it. Ventus' ice cream, of what was left of it, fell to the sand. A tragedy, if ever there was one.

 ** _"Lemme sleep!"_**

With that declaration, a pair of hamster balls appeared. A pair of hamster balls containing two miffed Keyblade wielders. Ventus fell, and the ball moved with the momentum, rolling towards the sea.

"This is totally your fault." Vanitas called out, arms crossed as he shot Ventus yet another glare from his own confinement.


	5. Sora is not a Morning Person

A/N: Hi, everyone! Here's the next chapter :)

Published: 2/3/2018

Warnings: None

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Sora is not a Morning Person**

Ventus had no idea how long he had been wandering. Although, he guessed it had been hours. Certainly all night, but who knows how long night lasts here. He knew that for a fact.

After all, the sun was startling to peak up. Hm. Ventus could just barely see the Island. Did this mean he was going to go on forever along this infinite sea?

Sora had left him wandering in the water all. Not that Ventus blamed Sora, no. The kid was innocent of all transgressions. That kid had one of the purest hearts Ventus had ever seen.

No.

Ventus blames Vanitas, because this was totally Vanitas' fault. Almost all his sorrows could be traced back to that deranged sociopath, and this was one of them.

There would be a reckoning. Ventus swore it. Vanitas would pay for this. Hm. The question wasn't whether Ventus was going to get back at Vanitas. He had already decided that he totally was.

The real question, though, was how to do so without bringing down Sora's wrath? Hm.

* * *

Sora awoke with a yawn. Stretching his hands above his head, the four year old turned to look right out of the window, light streaming forth and onto his face. Sora smiled. Yesterday had been pretty fun. He'd woken up to find he could summon cool swords, he had new friends living in his head, which while yeah, a little weird, was also cool, and he found out he could visit them whenever he wanted to.

Although, Riku had said not to do that randomly. Apparently, Sora would pass out if he decided to visit his mind, which had scared the crap out of Riku.

Sora decided he did not want to do that around his mom. Yeah, she was a bit absent minded, but even she would notice if Sora passed out randomly in front of her.

Humming to himself as he got up to play with his toys, the four year old Sora didn't even question how it was weird exactly how absentminded his mom really was.

Then, Sora remembered. He remembered last night, when he had been trying to sleep, and how Van and Ven had annoyed him. Hm. Maybe they were being good now? Did that mean Sora should let them out of the hamster balls?

…

Nah.

He would let them suffer for a bit more, the child diabolically decided, unknowingly channeling the inner darkness of the figure that resembled him so.

* * *

Vanitas looked up to the sky. It was bright and sunny which, he assumed, could only mean Sora was awake. Despite that, he was still here, in an industrial strength hamster ball.

Vanitas had to learn how to summon these things. He was going to stick Xehanort in one and then flood it with an endless army of Unversed.

Still, though. Vanitas hadn't cared much at first, but it had been hours. Vanitas shot a weary look towards the ocean, where Ventus had long since slipped past the horizon. Then, he turned towards the sky, towards Sora, and bellowed out.

"Hey! SORA! Ven… Er. He went for a swim of his own free will, but I haven't seen him in a while!"

No need to reveal to Sora that Vanitas had, once again, attacked Ventus. Especially since he had done it not out of malice, for once, but because he wanted that bloody ice cream.

In Vanitas' defense, that chocolate had been heavenly, and Ventus was a terrible, terrible person for offering to share and then pretending he hadn't. What Vanitas had done in response was only right, correct? Vanitas had just responded to the situation accordingly, correct?

Vanitas stared patiently at the sky, arms crossed, waiting.

And he continued to stare. And stare. And stare.

Vanitas twitched.

"SORA!"

No response.

"Little twerp!"

Nada.

"Tiny mini me!"

Zilch.

"Oiy! Supreme commander person!"

 _ **I'm havin' breakfast! Stop it, before I blast you with lightning!**_

To emulate the point, the clouds directly above Vanitas began to coalesce, turning dark as electricity cackled above Vanitas' head.

Vanitas sweat dropped.

Okay… Maybe Ven had a point. This kid not only looked like Vanitas, but he also acted a bit like him too. Still, Vanitas was pretty sure he'd remember if he had reproduced, and he was pretty sure he had not, in fact, done the deed.

Maybe he shouldn't have let the kid play with the Flood?

…

Nah. Vanitas supposed that, once he got out of his damn ball, he would teach Sora the true ways of darkness. The kid already had a vindictive streak, although Vanitas was starting to wonder if that was because of him or if Sora merely wasn't a morning person.

Still…

Vanitas' eyes darkened.

Fond of the brat or no, this embarrassment would not go unpunished. He couldn't move directly against Sora, annoyingly enough. This world was Sora's creation, his imagination, his mind. It made him a god here. No. Vanitas had to strike a little deeper.

Not for a second was Vanitas bothered by the fact that he was plotting against a child. From his own perspective, Vanitas was only four himself, so that shouldn't be all that surprising.

* * *

Sora's voice booming in the skies was unmistakable, as were the clouds that had formed around the far distant island. Ventus groaned, laying back and staring up and the clouds.

"Great. Just great. Not only do you get me stuck wandering the sea, but you also piss the only person that could possibly help me out! Gee, thanks Van!" Ventus shouted to himself, grumbling as he slammed a first down against the rubbery texture of the hamster ball.

At the very least, the thing was buoyant. And, pretty solid from what Ventus could tell. If only he could find some way to control it, this wouldn't be so ba-

Ventus face palmed.

"Duh. I'm an idiot. I've spent wayyyy too much time around Terra."

Not that Terra was stupid, but Ven could admit that his friend was occasionally a little dense.

Elsewhere, Maleficent and Xehanort cackled.

Ven stood.

"This… Is probably not my smartest idea, but here goes."

Ventus could still use magic here. That had not changed. Last night, he had also realized that, despite this being Sora's world, his imagination could make things. Not big things, but still. So, he just had to imagine. He had to imagine, and hope he didn't mess it up too badly.

The water around him churned with power, and, for a moment, Ventus' eyes glowed with magical might.

* * *

Vanitas blinked.

Where in the hell had the random ice slide come from? And, how had he not noticed it before?

For, there it was. A massive slide made of ice, rippling across the water. It extended far beyond his sight, but it ended here, on the surface of the beach. Now that Vanitas looked at it, he realized it was just the right size for these hamster ball prisons Sora had made.

Wait a second…

Vanitas shot a weary look towards the sky. What evil was that brat planning now, and should Vanitas be proud or frightened by it?

Vanitas didn't have time for either as a shape, white and spinning, came barreling down the slide. There it was. Sora's most twisted scheme yet. Vanitas resisted the urge to squeal in terror. He didn't squeal. How Sora had discovered Vanitas' weakness to motion sickness, he would never know, but he recognized a threat when he saw one.

Then, the ball collided against the little wooden shack and there was an explosion of wood and splinters in every direction. Vanitas could only watch as the ball came to a halting end, Ventus' form slowly rising within it.

Ventus shot him a single look before twisting around and vomiting all over the place.

Vanitas winced.

"Er. How was the trip?" Vanitas said diplomatically.

Ventus, crouched over, managed to end his heaving long enough to spin around and glare right at Vanitas. Vanitas had to say, he was proud in that moment. He didn't think Ventus had so much rage in him. It was beautiful, brining this out. A work of art if ever there was one.

"SCREW YOU!"

 _ **I said lemme eat!**_

Crap.

Lightning smashed in between the pair of them, blasting crystallized sand everywhere.

Yep. Sora was not a morning person. No doubt about it.


	6. The Unholy Alliance

A/N: Hi all! So, I have one big genuine question: how in the hell is Vanitas free in the trailer? I assumed it was just in Sora's head at first, but there's one trailer where Vanitas is there and so is everyone else while he holds a scream canister

Maybe that was the whole goal of DDD? I mean, I'm pretty sure Ansem got loose since before that he was trapped in Riku, but what if their goal wasn't to turn Sora into a Seeker, but to release Vanitas? Up until then, we knew Vanitas was trapped in there too, so…

Maybe I'm overthinking it? What do you guys think?

Published: 3/3/2018

Warnings: None

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **The Unholy Alliance**

If someone had told Ventus a week ago that he would be sitting across from Vanitas while the pair of them plotted war against a smiling demon child that hid behind a facade of charming smiles, Ventus would have assaulted them, plain and simple. Vanitas was the bane of Ventus' existence. To even suggest-

"Would you stop that? I can literally feel it. It was amusing at first, but really?"

Ventus blinked in surprise. Vanitas just sneered.

…

"You can… Feel my emotions!?" Ventus shuddered at the implication. Having any sort of link to Vanitas was scary in and of itself. Vanitas was evil personified. Like, if you look in a dictionary and search the word 'evil' you'll get a picture of Vanitas smirking at you and posing, possibly around a group of dead puppies because why not.

"I fail to see why you're surprised. We're two halves of the same whole, shockingly." Vanitas pointed out.

"But I can't feel your emotions!" Ventus hotly countered.

"That's because you've rejected our connection." Vanitas said flatly. "Like it or not, you and I are two halves of the same coin. Yay us, right?" Vanitas flashed Ventus a smile. Or at least, Vanitas attempted to flash him a smile.

Ventus was once again besieged with the image of hellfire. This time, it was accompanied by the visage of a crimson sea and chains that Ventus would rather not focus on. For a second, he could have sworn he heard the screams of countless prisoners suffering in hell.

Vanitas rolled his eyes.

"Your exaggerating. My smiles are not that terrible. They're heavenly. You should be honored that I'm gracing you with one." Vanitas informed him.

…

"You can hear my thoughts too!"

"We're stuck inside a little kid's head. This whole place is just thoughts. Of course I can hear them, you little troll."

Just then, the sky rumbled.

The pair of them froze.

Slowly, the looked up.

Happily, lightning didn't seem to be raining down on them again. Ventus wasn't sure they'd survive. The aftereffects of the last lightning bolt that Sora had sent down on them for disturbing him in the morning laid around them.

Ventus was personally rather good with thunder magic. In fact, Ventus was pretty sure he was better than Aqua in that department.

Ventus had a brief mental image of Aqua's utter mastery of all things magical to the point where the first command style she had instinctively awakened involved summoning spheres of pure magical energy, and promptly rethought his analysis.

Okay, maybe not that good, but he was definitely better than Terra!

Either way, Ventus was good with lightning magic. Or any magic that involved the skies, really. It was his area of expertise, his favorite spell being that tornado he had managed to catch Vanitas in. Ventus excelled with that type of magic.

He'd never once managed to turn sand to glass using lightning, though. Sora was something else entirely.

"Or it could be that, since we're in the kid's head, he's practically god here. Think before you think, Ven!" Vanitas admonished.

Ventus was offended.

"That doesn't even make sense! How am I supposed to think before I think?"

"Subconscious. Duh."

Ventus was a very calm person. Anyone who knew him could tell you that. Ventus wasn't the type of person to go looking for a fight. He was more of that mellow guy who actually talked people out of those instead of the one who'd leap right into it.

It says a lot about Vanitas, then, that Ventus was perfectly willing to toss aside his usual calm demeanor to tackle the other to the ground, first swinging right for the other's annoyingly smug face.

* * *

Sora tilted his head.

To most, this wouldn't mean anything. The teacher didn't even spare them a second glance. The rest of their classmates were to happy goofing around to do anything. To Riku, though, every little move Sora did was a tell.

No one knew Sora better than Riku. Only Riku knew that Sora was a little sadist behind his happy little smiles. Oh sure, Sora looked nice and all and would defend his friends to the fullest, but as someone who had suffered under Sora's puppy eye stare far too many times, Riku knew Sora was a thousand times more dangerous than he looked.

Which Riku could deal with.

Sora might have his puppy eyes of doom, but Riku was still better than him.

Still…

Riku recognized that look in his best friend's eyes.

"What's up?" Riku asked.

Sora turned to him. His eyes still held that far off semi glazed look. The look Sora would get when he was listening in on the people now living in his head, which Riku supposed was technically his fault since he told Sora to let them entre it in the first place.

"Shadow and Light are trying to plan against me." Sora revealed.

This was surprising to Riku. He had never expected this out of those two.

Okay, no, he had expected it out of Light, but from Shadow too?

Riku remembered Shadow. He also remembered Sora gleefully holding a little blue monster that was trying to claw his face off, not that Sora noticed. Sora was one fearless little brat.

Still, Shadow had all but fawned over Sora. So, hearing that Shadow was actively plotting against Sora was just plain weird.

Riku couldn't say anything about Light. He'd never met the guy, but Sora did say that Light had a pure soul. Pure betrayal, it seemed.

…

"What did you do?" Riku groaned.

Sora looked at him innocently.

Riku wasn't fooled.

"I just shoved them both into fun little hamster balls. Annnnd I might have accidentally sent Light into the ocean. And I might have accidentally attacked them with a storm." Sora responded.

Riku blinked several times. Riku considered Sora's words for several moments. He said nothing, merely staring at his lifelong friend. Sora squirmed slightly under the gaze.

"They wouldn't lemme sleep! And they annoyed me in the mornin'!" Sora defended himself.

Riku blinked a few more times before groaning, cupping his own face in his hands as he shook his head.

"I don't know who's crazier. You or them."

To this, Sora shrugged.

Well.

At least Sora admitted it.


	7. Of Drawings and Venny

A/N: So, Kingdom Hearts is officially 16 years old today. 16 years ago, Kingdom Hearts came out, and a generation was influenced by it's grand influence. 3 years later, Kingdom Hearts II was released. Then, after that, we finally got Kingdom Hearts I-

…

Oh wait.

We didn't get III.

We're still waiting.

Wait. KHII was released in 2005…

…

..

.

THIRTEEN YEARS OF IT! IN AZKABAN!

(I'm so, so sorry, couldn't resist)

(And I totally edited the line since, for some reason, I had the metal image if Sirius yelling thirteen. Was I the only one?)

Published: 3/28/2018

Warnings: None

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Of Drawings and Venny**

Sora happily hummed to himself in the middle of art class. The teacher had asked them to draw something that made them happy, so Sora had decided that he would draw his new friends. Sure, Riku had met Shadow, but he'd never met Light. Sora had only met Light once, but if Sora concentrated he could actually see what was happening inside his mindscape.

Of course, he had to make sure not to concentrate too hard. Riku would yell at Sora if Sora passed out randomly on him again.

Sora happily drew another line, one here and there and aha! He needed to get the curve just right. It had to be completely perfect! Sora's tongue darted out of his mouth as he concentrated, scribbling away before reaching out for another crayon.

Hm.

Red.

He needed some red.

Shadow wore red and black.

Sora was so busy scribbling away that he didn't notice Riku leaning over his shoulder to take a peek at Sora's masterpiece. If he had, he would have yelled at the other boy to stay away 'cause this was a present and you're not suppose to see a gift before it's done.

"... Why'd you draw you and me pushing two hamster balls down a slide?"

Sora jumped, crayon falling from his hand as he turned around to glare at his best friend. Riku wasn't perturbed at all. Instead, the silver haired boy just crossed his arms and smirked.

"Riku! You weren't suppose ta see it yet! I'm not done!" Sora pulled his masterpiece to his chest, cradling it against himself protectively.

Riku rolled his eyes.

"I already saw, dummy. Oh, and for the record, when we have to choose career paths later on… Don't choose artist." Riku said, standing up and speeding away as fast as he could while a blush broke over Sora's face.

"You meany head!"

Riku didn't need to turn. Instead, with practiced ease, the five year old ducked under the crayon Sora flung at him, a laugh on the silver haired boy's lips. Wakka yelped as the crayon hit him instead, turning to glare.

"Yo! Not cool! Who da one who tossed that?"

"Sorry, Wakka!"

Riku watched as the angry expression melted in a heartbeat on the tanned boy's face. Sora had likely hit him with the puppy eyes of doom. No one could resist the puppy eyes of doom.

Sora was utterly adorable, and the damn brat knew it.

It was then that Riku made his mistake. He should have known better. He should have known, but the temptation was too great. Riku twisted his head around to shoot a look towards Sora.

Sora's lips did that pathetic little quivering thing as Riku was subjected to the full blast of a pout.

Riku twitched.

He seriously hoped Sora would lose this ability in the future. It would be downright embarrassing if, sometime in the future, all it took for Sora to bend Riku to his will was a pout.

Riku sighed, walking back towards Sora before sitting next to him.

"Here, lemme help." Riku reached out towards the drawing.

Sora beamed.

Stupid sunny Sora.

* * *

"... I think we can rule out the silver haired brat being an ally." Vanitas, like usual, liked pointing out things that were obvious.

"Oh, you don't say?" Ventus rolled his eyes.

It was an interesting discovery to make. Just like Sora could look into this place if he concentrated enough, Ventus and Vanitas could both see the outside world if they did the same.

The thing was, though, they'd see it from Sora's perspective. From his eyes, and nothing more. It was a bit jarring, if only for the fact that there was no control.

Ventus was used to being able to twist his head to look at things when he wanted to, or spot things out of his peripheral vision if he needed to. It wasn't the same when looking through Sora's eyes.

If Sora wasn't concentrating on something, they couldn't see it. If Sora didn't notice something in his peripheral, they wouldn't see it. It was like being trapped in a body and having absolutely no control over it.

"Ventus, you idiot, it's not like being trapped in a body and having no control over it. It is literally that. We are literally trapped in this kid's body, because of _you_ and you're actions, you dipshit."

Ventus shot the other a glare.

"Stop swearing. You'll corrupt Sora."

Ventus didn't even bother commenting on the fact that Vanitas was reading his mind again. Ventus didn't have to comment. He just let his displeasure with the whole thing be known through his emotions. Vanitas had claimed to be able to feel those, even before they got shoved in here.

Vanitas arched an eyebrow.

"Sora, innocent? That brat makes me proud, Ven. Me, of all people." Vanitas pointed out.

Ventus considered that. Hm. Okay. He could admit, anyone that Vanitas took pride in probably wasn't as innocent as they appea-

Ventus blinked several times.

He blinked once more for good measure, Vanitas' words rolling around in his head.

"... Did you just call me Ven?"

Vanitas froze, and that was all the confirmation Ventus needed.

It was something little. Something small. Inconsequential. Unimportant. Something you could literally wave off. So what did it matter what Vanitas called him? It shouldn't have mattered but, somehow, it did. Somehow, it riled Ventus up more than anything else.

It made him mad.

Made him angry.

Made him furious.

"ONLY MY FRIENDS CAN CALL ME THAT, AND YOU SURE AS HELL AREN'T ONE OF THEM!" Ventus thundered.

Literally.

The skies thundered.

Vanitas opened his mouth, no doubt to shout back, when the pair of them froze as lightning streaked through the sky. As one, the two teens gazed up, fully expecting Sora's voice to start yelling at them again. However, it didn't come.

Sora hadn't noticed them. Hadn't noticed them at all, for once.

Which meant…

"Did you just… Summon lighting?" Vanitas stared at Ventus.

"... I think I did." Ventus replied, just as stunned as Vanitas was.

Then, to Ventus' horror, Vanitas' mouth split into a twisted, evil smirk.

"It seems, Venny, that we have more control of this world than I initially believed. Oh, this is gold. This is good. I'm gonna teach that little twerp a lesson!" Vanitas declared, rubbing his palms against each other evilly.

…

"DON'T CALL ME VENNY EITHER!"

* * *

They'd finally finished the darn thing.

"There, happy now?" Riku asked as Sora titled the drawing left and right, examining every piece of it.

For something that had been done in less than an hour, it was pretty impressive. The small little island that they played on had been drawn in a mixture of random pastels, but looked passable.

That was the normal part of the drawing.

That is, until you get to the water.

There was a literal slide of ice, which had been more of pain to draw that Riku cared to admit. A small mini Sora, or at the very least what Riku assumed to be Sora, was pushing a hamster ball towards it with a protesting bigger Sora trapped inside. A mini Riku was was standing next to the other hamster ball, which contained a little caricature of a blond teen that Riku could only assume was 'the pretty shiny Light'.

Sora had insisted on drawing a smirk on the face, claiming that Light would be amused by anything that made Shadow look uncomfortable.

The teacher looked over their project.

"That's very… Interesting, Sora dear." the woman stated, clearly not knowing how to respond.

"Thanks!" Sora beamed, seemingly not catching her tone. He probably hadn't. Sora could be a bit airheaded. Instead, Sora turned to Riku and presented the drawing like a gift.

Riku blinked.

"Er. What're you doing?"

"'s for you, silly." Sora said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the rolled.

Riku blinked a few times. Sora was giving him a gift that Riku himself had helped Sora make. Well, that was Sora for you. Still, Riku took it with a smile.

"Thanks?"

Sora, once again, failed to notice the tone.

Instead, he smiled.

Then, blinked. Once, twice, before his eyes rolled back into his skull and he fell face first onto his desk, snoring away.


	8. Shaded Strategem

A/N: in which Vanitas plots, onlookers are confused, and Ventus chooses a side.

Published: 4/26/2018

Warnings: Vanitas' imagination

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **Shaded Stratagem**

Sora had been happily chatting with Riku after giving the other boy his present when he was unceremoniously pulled into his own mindscape.

Or was it technically a heartscape? Sora wasn't sure.

All he knew was that he'd been pulled here against his will, and he was pretty ticked off about it too. Who would dare? What twisted evil force would do such a thing?

"Keep him busy, Venny! Our. Time. Is. Now!" Shadow's voice yelled out.

Oh, wait. Duh. That twisted force.

Wait a second...

Venny? Shadow was calling Light Venny now? What was the world coming to? Had Sora accidentally walked into an alternate reality? Was this all in his head?

Okay, technically it was, but details.

"I told you not to call me that!" Light called out right back, sounding like he very much wanted to hit the other. Ah. Okay. Universe back to normal.

Sora grodgidly sat up. He'd landed in a heap right on the sand, which he could feel crunching beneath his weight. Looking around, Sora realized that he couldn't see Light or Shadow anywhere.

Concern momentarily replaced anger. Where they okay? Were they hurt? Had something happened?

Wait, no. Sora would have known if something bad had happened to the two of them. They literally lived in his head.

"Shadow? Did you need somethin'? Couldn't it have waited? I was talkin' to Riku and drawing pretty pictu-" Sora began.

Shadow then appeared before him in a vortex of shadows, up on the little wooden staircase. Then, he rudely interrupted Sora with a loud boisterous laugh, cackling evilly while shooting Sora what he could only describe as Riku's ha, I won again face.

Sora didn't like that face. He enjoyed wiping it off Riku's face whenever he got the chance. Unfortunately, said chance didn't come across very often because Riku was annoyingly good at anything he put his mind to.

That didn't mean that Sora couldn't give him a run for his money, though. If Shadow thought he could win here, in Sora's own head, he had another thing coming.

Sora's eyes narrowed. He took a step forward, when…

Light appeared before him, holding a bowl of…

"Ice cream!" Sora cheered. Like many children, Sora was easily distracted when it came to sweets. Light handed him the bowl, looking slightly guilty. Sora couldn't imagine why. Vanilla was the best.

Taking a bite, Sora smiled up at his friend. Light still looked sad for whatever reason. Sora frowned. Taking a bit of ice cream up with his spook, Sora offered it up to the other.

"Wha- what?" Light blinked at it, then at Sora.

"You look sad. Here! Ice cream should make you feel better! Mom always says that the best thing to do when sad is tah eat a tub of ice cream!"

Light's lip started to quiver. Then, suddenly, without any sort of warning, Light tossed his arms up in the air.

"I can't do this! It's too mean!" He cried out.

Sora looked at him oddly.

"It's not mean, I'm offerin' it to you. It'd be mean if you took it by force." Sora said, not understanding the problem.

If anything, that seemed to make it worse as Light sniffed, looking like he was just on the verge of bursting into tears.

Sora decided he needed back up for this one. Looking around the small tiny island, Sora spoke.

"Hey, where'd Shadow go?"

Shadow should be able to help! Maybe not to make Light feel better, but getting him mad should knock Light out of his funk.

Then, inexplicably, Light burst into tears. Taken by surprise, Sora almost dropped his ice cream.

"Light! What's wrong?" Sora asked.

"I can't do this! Vanitas, stop! Abort, abort, abort!" Light turned around and started screaming at the sky.

Sora blinked, bewildered.

Just… What was going on?

* * *

Their teacher then proceeded to prove she was useless as she walked off without another world. In her defense, this would hardly be the first time that Sora decided to take a nap in the middle of class after finishing an assignment.

The only one who seemed to see anything wrong with it at all, really, was Riku himself.

"Sora? Sora!" The boy shook his friend.

That hadn't been like last time. The look of surprise on Sora's face before he was dragged into his own mind was rather telling. Riku shook the boy's shoulders, determined to wake him from… Whatever this was.

He'd been forced into his mindscape. That was the only reasonable solution Riku could come to. Sora had been dragged in, and who's fault was it?

Riku's. It was Riku's because he'd told Sora to do it, he'd told Sora to let some stranger into his mind. Into his heart. He'd told Sora to let someone in, and now, and now…

Tears started to stream down Riku's face.

"What's wrong with Riku?" Selphie commented, looking at him as if Riku had randomly sprouted a tail.

"Sora's always been lazy, taking naps." Tidus continued, looking equally as confused.

"Sora knows the way, yeah? Sleepin' whenever he can!" Wakka concluded, fist smashing lightly against his desk ask he nodded to himself as if he'd just uttered the next great gospel.

Riku twitched.

Idiots. All of them. Sora was-

Sora's eyes snapped opened, except they didn't. They didn't, because instead of familiar blue, Riku was looking at gold.

Then, Sora stood, arms raised above him dramatically as he began to laugh evilly.

"It is done! At last, it is done! Buahahaha! Don't worry, Venny, I am a man of my word and I swear, I shall find a way to release you." Not-Sora promised, fist clenched against his chest as he peered up at literally nothing.

"Now he's acting weirder than normal." Tidus spoke with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, he does have an overactive imagination." Selphie told the boy.

Tidus considered this before nodding. "True." he acknowledged.

Not-Sora blinked at then all, as if barely realizing he was among other human beings. Then, turning towards Tidus, he spoke.

"Ahaha! Sorry, Timmy, I'm feeling a bit under the weather."

"Who's Timmy?"

Not-Sora blinked.

"Thomas?"

"No."

"Shuyin?"

"What! No! That's not even close!"

Not-Sora narrowed his eyes at Tidus.

"Are you sure? You look like a Shuyin." Not-Sora stated suspiciously.

"Yes! I'm sure! Geez, Sora. Are you feeling alright?"

To this, Not-Sora grinned evilly. A grin Riku had never seen in his bestfriends face, malicious and twisted.

"I've never been bett-"

Riku was done with this. Reaching out, he pinned the smaller boy before he could even think of retaliating. That actually got a response as Riku heard the sound of scrapping chars.

"Woah, Riku, calm down aye?" Wakka called. Riku ignored him. Useless, the lot of them.

Not-Sora gazed up at him in surprise. Riku growled.

"Whoever you are, let Sora go."

"But, Richard, I am Sora." Not-Sora lied, golden eyes blinking innocently.

"My name isn't Richard!"

"... okay look, I'm not good with names, alright? I-" Not-Sora froze.

Then, hands shoved Riku right off before Not-Sora gripped his head.

"Owe! Bad Shadow, bad!"

"Ven, you deceptive little Kain!"

Riku watched in shock as Sora swayed once, twice, then came to a stop. Familiar blue eyes blinked up at him.

Sora smiled.

"Hi, Riku."

Riku was very proud of himself for only hitting Sora once.

* * *

Vanitas glared at Ventus.

The little shit glared right back, unrepentant.

"Our one chance. Our one chance to get free of this mess, and you- you- do you exist to annoy me?!" Vanitas demanded.

The plan had been so ridiculously simple that Vanitas would have succeeded if Ventus had given him just a few more minutes. All he had to do was take over the brat, find somewhere secluded, then he'd be able to release their hearts.

Plain and simple, right?!

And, there would be no harm to Sora because Vanitas totally knew what he was doing.

…

Okay, so it might harm Sora if Vanitas messed it up, but he totally hadn't been intending to do that. If anything, Vanitas planned on taking Sora as his apprentice. The little brat had already proved he had a hidden sadistic streak, one that Vanitas planned to nurture for the sole purpose of setting him on Xehanort.

Except, all of his plans had been ruined, yet again, by the idiot standing right in front of him!

Ventus crossed his arms, looked away, and sneered.

"I'm not helping you if it means hurting Sora. Sure, he's a little annoying as he's got a temper and god forbid you disturb him in the morning, but he's a good kid!"

Vanitas trembled with barely controlled rage. It was a familiar feeling, one he had felt all his life starting the moment he'd been born.

Was born the right word, actually? Vanitas had kinda just popped out fully grown. Wait, no. Bad analogy, badddd. That would make Ventus his mom.

Wait a second…

Would that make Xehanort his dad?

Vanitas blanched.

Ventus watched in confusion as Vanitas turned around and started to slam his head against a tree while muttering about how he so need some brain bleach.


	9. Advent Oceanus

A/N: Advertisement time! Lovely, isn't it?

Voices whisper in my Ear by Darkangelwitch.

It's the same basic plot as this story, except it starts out during KH I instead of before. That, and the author had stated that they've got an endgame Sorikai paring in the mix, which I can totally get behind

On another note, my new stained glass Riku Medal is overpowered as hell. Especially when paired with Invi. It's like. Everything dies. Everything. 'Tis wonderful

Also, I now have a tumblr. Same username as on here. I've just started the thing, but I'll be posting random things there for all my stories

Introducing the first serious chapter of the story. Vanitas and Ventus really do have a lot they have to sort out. A lot. Anyways, on with the story

Published: 5/12/2018

Warnings: None

 **Vanitas**

 _Ventus_

 _ **Sora**_

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Advent Oceanus**

There was a girl on the beach.

Sora blinked.

Huh. Weird. Where'd she come from? Sora titled his head. She didn't look familiar. At all. And Sora knew all the kids on the island. Was she new?

She had to be new. Sora didn't know anyone with hair that red. It was really pretty, actually. Sora moved closer, eyes narrowing as he examined her.

Eyes shut close, the girl snored. Somehow, she'd managed to keep herself from being soaked, despite the shore line seemingly just trailing against her toes. How was beyond Sora, but he could appreciate anyone who could nap like a boss like her.

He decided he liked this random stranger.

 **… You have got to be kidding me. He's already making his move? This soon?**

 _Excuse me?_

 **…**

 _Hey! Don't ignore me! Vanitas, what do you know?_

Shadow, noticeably, did not answer. Sora elected to ignore them. Instead, he decided to poke the strange new girl with the stick he'd picked up to spar with Riku. A little rude, maybe, but whatever.

The girl twitched. Then, blue eyes blinked open, gazing right up at him.

Sora stared at the girl.

The girl stared at him.

 **Sky, meet the Sea.**

The who?

The girl then shot up, a scream on her lips as she scrambled away. Sora shrieked, falling back himself.

The girl gasped once, twice, then looked back at Sora.

"Where… Where am I? Who're you?" the girl paused. Then, she continued on, "Who am I?"

 _… Vanitas, what did you do!_

 **What? Why do you instantly assume I did something, huh?**

 _Because you always do something! You were literally working for the bad guy!_

 **Sky?**

Sora sighed. Hm. Maybe just once? Hopefully, it would calm them down a bit? Sora supposed he could let them let loose. A bit.

 _ **Don't blow anything up.**_

 **Buahahaha.**

 _Huh? Hey, wait… Sora! Hey, Sora he's attacking! Owe!_

Sora phased the two out. Shadow wouldn't get too violent. He hoped. Even if he did, Light could take it. He could defend himself pretty well from what Sora had seen.

Sora grinned at the girl, extending his hand out towards her.

"I'm Sora!"

The girl eyed the hand in surprise. Then, her own rose to clasp it. Sora grinned.

"I… My name… Kairi." the girl said. Sora titled his head. She didn't sound sure about that. Noticing his look, her expression harder a bit. "My name is Kairi." she said, firm and certain.

Okay. Kairi it was then. Sora nodded at her, accepting it as he grinned.

"Nice to meet you! Where'd you come from? Are you knew? Have you been here a while? Do you usually take naps on the beach? Where's your mommy and daddy?"

Let it not be said that child Sora could not go off a mile a minute, because he could. He totally, totally could.

Kairi's face quickly matched her hair, a pretty blush blossoming on her cheeks. She stuttered a bit, looking flustered. Before she could answer him, though, a new voice interrupted.

"Sora! She literally just said she has no idea about any of that! Stop asking!"

Sora's face soon matched Kairi's as Riku, of course, chose that moment to materialize out of thin air. Because of course he did.

Sora received an eye roll from his best friend before Riku turned to Kairi.

"Riku." he introduced himself, extenint out a hand. Kairi took it, smiling shyly up at him.

And so was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

* * *

Ventus dodged.

Vanitas gleefully chased after him.

Sora had actually given Vanitas permission to attack. He had legitimately done so.

Ventus was genuinely offended by this. Hadn't he good to Sora? Hadn't he helped the other? Hadn't he stopped Vaniats' evil plan?

Okay, not so evil if Vanitas was to be believed, but that was the problem, wasn't it?

Ventus hadn't believed. No matter how fond Vanitas seemed of Sora, Vanitas was still, well, Vanitas.

Still, Ventus had been tempted. He could admit and confess that. Said temptation didn't last long in the face of Sora's utter adorableness, but this, right here?

This was Sora's true colors, setting demons on people that helped him. What a rude little snot nosed brat!

Vanitas sighed, fire dying on his fingertips. Ventus looked up, surprised. Was it over?

Vanitas gave him a disappointed look.

"Venny boy, sparring is no fun if you don't fight back." Vanitas tsked at him.

A tick mark appeared above Ventus head. He was starting to wonder if it would end up becoming a permanent attachment. It sure as hell looked like it would.

"For the last time, stop calling me that, Vani."

Vanitas spluttered.

"Vani? Really, Ventus?"

"Of course! The name matches! I've never met anyone as vain as you are!"

"What? Vain? Me? Since when have I been vain?!" Vanitas denied vehemently.

Ventus crossed his arms, utterly unimpressed.

"You took one look at Sora, realized the little fluff ball looked like you, and decided he lucked out because he, I quote, looked like 'perfection personified'." Ventus added air quotes around the words.

Vanitas blushed.

Getting the other blushing and flustered was fun, Ventus decided. If Vanitas was going to make his life hell, Ventus would retaliate in anyway he could. Petty, really, that he was reduced to embarrassing the hell out of his foe, but meh.

Vanitas opened his mouth, no doubt to retaliate, before it snapped shut once more. No doubt Vanitas had realized there was literally nothing he could say to counter Ventus' argument.

Silly Vanitas, thinking he could beat Ventus in an duel of words.

"Anyways, your narcissism aside," Ventus spoke, ignoring the way lightning cackled in his counterparts fingertips, "what did you mean, you didn't expect him to move so soon? Who's him?" Ventus demanded, eyes narrowed.

Vanitas opened his mouth again. Just like last time, it snapped shut.

Then, Ventus was treated to a sight that proved that the entire world had gone utterly upside down.

Vanitas turned his head away in shame, guilt of all things dancing in his eyes.

"I… Getting you, Ventus… That was only half Xehanort's plan." Vanitas admitted. Ventus felt a cool feeling of dread pool up in his stomach. "There was a reason we kept you all separate. There was a reason Xehanort singled Terra out." Vanitas looked up. His expression hardened, shifting from guilt to outright accusation. "There was a reason I warned you about it."

…

Did Vanitas seriously just try to pin this on him? Ventus felt the familiar feeling of rage pool up in his stomach, replacing the dread. Who did this shadow bending bastard think he was?

"I… Don't know if it worked. Not really." Vanitas confessed, expression softening. "But, based off the girl… I'm guessing it did."

Ventus grit his teeth.

"You're not sure if what worked?"

"... Just like you and I became one, Xehanort intended to do the same with Terra."

Xehanort had intended to… To do what? Suddenly, an image entered Ventus head of Terra, except it wasn't. Golden eyes, silver hair, a twisted sneer.

Not Terra. No. Xehanort.

Because Terra was gone. No. Worse than gone. Worse than gone, because what was left of him was likely being used by…

Ventus snapped.

With a roar, he tackled the other to the ground. Vanitas grunted, taken completely by surprise. Straddling the other male with a wild look in his eyes, Venus lifted his fist and swung.

Vanitas, though, was not the kind of being to take such a thing lying down. With a snarl, Ventus was kicked off. Vanitas gripped him by the chest, slamming him against the sand.

Ventus growled and swung, kicking and screaming. And Vanitas? Vanitas gave as good as he got, the two of them rapidly becoming a messy tangle of limbs and aggression as they proceeded to beat each other senseless with their bare hands, magic and Keyblades and weapons all but forgotten.

It was in that moment that a blade of light came from the sky, blasting the pair of them apart as a barrier appeared before them.

Vanitas laid on his end, panting.

Ventus, on the other hand, screamed bloody murder as he rose, fists slamming again and again against the force field.

 ** _You guys need to learn to get along!_**

Get along?

How utterly naive.

Ventus fell back, glare on his face. Vanitas didn't even bother looking at him. Instead, the other had the gaul to lean back onto the sand, expression relaxed.

Sora didn't get it. Sora didn't understand. There was no 'getting along'. Not for them. Not now. Not ever.

* * *

Guilt was not a familiar emotion to Vanitas. Not familiar, but not entirely foreign.

Ventus, of course, would not remember. Ventus never remembered. He never remembered anything. Useless boy, really.

Vanitas remembered.

He remembered his birth. He remembered every moment of it. He remembered walking into this world, literally being torn from Ventus. He remembered those first few moments, those first few months.

He killed, over and over again. He suffered, over and over again. And for what?

Every dark emotion, beating inside his heart would produce another. Then another. Then another. The Unversed… Born from his emotions, from his negativity. Born into the world.

And, at first, Vanitas had killed them. Again and again and again and again. And oh god, it had hurt. It had hurt so much, each and every time. You don't know pain until you fight a literal physical manifestation of your own soul, and you cut it down over and over and over again.

It had hurt. It had hurt so much.

He'd done it for Ventus.

Funny, really, now that Vanitas thought about it.

All this began because he was trying to protect the one person that had mattered to him. Keyword behind the word 'had'.

Where had affection turned to hate? When had Ventus gone from the thing Vanitas wanted to protect most in the world to the thing he wanted to see broken and bleeding before him? When had what was most precious to him become the thing he abhorred the most?

Vanitas wasn't sure, but he thought it might have something to do with his own physiology, with his own makeup.

Vanitas was darkness incarnate.

There was no good. There was no kindness, no love, no friendship in him. Nothing but anger and hate and cruelty.

Except…

Except, with Sora, around him…

Vanitas twisted in the sand, laying his head against it. Ventus had long since stopped bashing against the barrier, having fallen silent beside it.

Around Sora, Vanitas felt whole. Around Sora, Vanitas could think. Around Sora, his mind wasn't an endless haze of rage that left him dizzy and seeing red.

Sora… Really was a special child, Vanitas decided.

And now, because he was here, Vanitas actually felt guilty. He honest to god felt guilt over the thing's he'd done and the actions he'd committed. Holy hell. Sora had him whipped. Vanitas was whipped by a freaking preschooler.

If it wasn't so pathetic, Vanitas would laugh his ass off about the whole thing.

Still…

It did bring to question one very important, very critical factor.

Vanitas looked across the beach, towards Ventus' twisting form. The other was locked in sleep, although, from the look of him and the emotions rolling off him, the dreams weren't exactly happy.

Nightmares, no doubt about the other two. Terra and Aqua.

Nightmares that Vanitas had caused.

Nightmares that were made all to real by the simple act of a little girl, appearing on the beach.

Vanitas shot up, terrible realization dawning in him.

That girl… She was a Princess of Heart. Even if he hadn't known her, he could tell, just by looking at her. Light so bright and radiant that he himself wouldn't dare go near her, because unlike Ventus, her light was not artificial. Hers was real and true and getting near such a thing would be like venturing to near to the sun.

You'd get burned, right down to ash.

This Sea, though…

Vanitas understood what it meant. It meant it had begun. The fall of the worlds, drowning them each one by one in the darkness. Drowning them and, through them, bringing about Kingdom Hearts from the abyss.

That child, though… She came from Radiant Garden.

Radiant Garden would not fall. It was the one world that couldn't. The Heartless, for all their endeavours, could never level that world. Not without the key. A sevenfold lock, according to what Xehanort had taught Vanitas.

Which meant…

"Old man… Even now, you're hunting that legendary weapon, aren't you? You aren't content with me and Ventus, though. No. You want the prize. The original. Of course you do." Vanitas couldn't help the better laugh that left his lips.

Tossed aside at the first opportunity. Although, really, he wasn't sure why he was so surprised. Xehanort had tossed away Ventus easily enough. Why not Vanitas?

"Well… Come and try. I didn't get it before, but I do now." Vanitas stood, making his way towards Ventus. Arm lifting up, Vanitas let his fingers splay against Sora's barrier. Like glass, it separated the pair of them. Kept them apart and away from one another because, in Sora's words, they did not know how to 'play nice'.

"I'm not your puppet. Not anymore. I have something I care about now, and like hell I'll let you take it from me. Come and try, and I'll tear you to shreds."

And that was a promise.


	10. Into the Fold

A/N: I return. Briefly. I think I'll update something random once a week. I've been binge reading D.C. Comics annnnd there are sooo many of them. Like. Endless supply. Well, that, and I've somehow managed to injure my hands. I've no idea how, but moving them in general seems to cause me pain most of the time, which is annoying. Typing isn't too bad, but my right hand will actually go numb after a bit if I type too much. But, enough of random life stories from the author.

Character ages as of this chapter:

Sora and Kairi: Seven

Riku: Eight

It isn't mentioned, but there was a one year time skip between chapter 8 and 9. And a two year timeskip mentioned here.

Also, the comments have triggered an omake. Because omakes.

Published: 08/31/2018

Warnings: Crazy ship shenanigans in an omake

 **Vanitas**

 _Ventus_

* * *

 ** **Chapter 10****

 **Into the Fold**

It had been two years since Kairi had first woken up on the beach to find herself being prodded by a curious stick wielding boy. Two years since she had been taken in by the mayor of Destiny Islands, two years since her new life had began.

Since then, said new life had been… Ups and downs, if Kairi was being honest about it. Kairi couldn't remember her old home. Not really.

This apparently was not as unusual as it sounded. Kairi hadn't even been the first to show up passed out on the beach without any recollection whatsoever, but she had been the first in a very long time.

She had been here two years and, in that time, she'd been adopted, made friends, and had finally learned to get along with Riku. Kairi could not stress enough on the word 'finally', because apparently Riku was the possessive sort of boy who did not like his best friend adopting another best friend.

Sora was nothing if not persistent, though, and that persistence seemed to have culminated in this. When Sora had brought her over to his so called 'Secret Place', of all the things she had been expecting… This had so not been it.

Kairi could only stare.

Wha… What?

Kairi stared blankly at Sora.

"Wait, what lives in your head?"

Off to the side, Riku leaned against the cave wall, rolling his eyes.

"A living nightmare of boiling puppies and the incarnation of marshmallows, kittens, and rainbows live in his head." Riku supplied helpfully.

Sora shot the boy a glare. For a moment, Kairi could have sworn she saw a flash of gold in Sora's normally sky blue eyes.

" **Keep it up, brat. See if I get you anything nice for Christmas."**

Kairi couldn't held the shudder that ran through her. She couldn't help the cold feeling, running down her back, crawling along it. That wasn't Sora's voice. It was older. Deeper. Menacing. Not at all like the boy she knew, who was all warm and smiles and sunshine.

Kairi had been skeptical at first, because, really, who believes something like that right off the bat? She'd been skeptical, but not anymore. Sora wasn't kidding. Sora wasn't kidding at all.

He really did have other people living inside his head.

Woah. Kairi needed time to process this because, woaaahhh. Woah, woah, woah. How did that… How did that even work? HOW?

Riku smirked at his possessed friend, not at all bothered by the glowing golden eyes or the fact that Sora's hair was slowly getting slightly darker.

"I'm sure we're both already on Santa's naughty list, Shadow. I don't think either of us is getting much."

'Shadow' rolled his eyes.

" **What kind of eight year old doesn't want anything for Christmas? What kind of eight year old** _ **boasts**_ **about being on the naughty list?"**

Riku shrugged.

"The awesome ones who don't believe in stupid fairy tales. We have more fun." Riku argued.

Just as suddenly as the golden eyes and the darkening hair had appeared, they vanished.

Kairi let out a sigh of relief. Sora. Sora was back.

Sora, who was pouting, fist clenched, and glaring at Riku. Ah. Good. Things were back to normal.

"Riku! Santa is totally real! Yer just sayin' that 'cause you want me to say he isn't real so I end up on the naughty list with you!" Sora accused, waving his fist.

To this, Riku's eyebrow arched in a way no seven year old's eyebrow should arch.

"Wouldn't you be on the naughty list too, Sora? After all, you associate with me of your own free will." Riku pointed out.

Sora titled his head.

"What's associate?" Sora asked.

Kairi agreed. What was that strange word?

Riku opened his mouth to answer but, before he could, Sora was seemingly taken over again. This time, however, instead of golden eyes and darkening hair, his eyes seemed to shine white and his hair started to turn blond.

" _It means you hang out with him because you want to."_

"Wait, how would that put me on the naughty list?"

" **Because, Riku is the the genetic lovechild of darkness and shadows. Anyone who 'hangs out' with him is obviously evil."**

"Riku's not evil! He's cool and nice and my bestest bestest friend!"

Kairi's eyes were rapidly growing dizzy. Riku, noticing this, shot her a smirk. This was a smirk Kairi wasn't used to seeing. At least, not seeing it directed at her.

Most of Riku's smirks were the arrogant kind. The 'I'm so much better than you' kind of variety. Or the victorious, smug smirks he'd shoot her way when Sora decided to ignore her in favor of him. Or any other variety of that.

No one could smirk like Riku.

This smirk, though…

It was the kind he'd shoot Sora. The kind that had that friendly, competitive shine.

"Welcome to the club. It just gets crazing from here. Seeing Sora argue with his tag alongs is a personal favorite pastime of mine." Riku confessed.

Sora didn't seem to notice. He was still, as Riku had put it, arguing with himself. Or, rather, arguing with two beings that he had apparently let into his heart at the age of four, a year before Kairi had appeared on the islands to be poked by a random curios boy.

All of that, leading to this.

Kairi couldn't help but smile. Sure, it was a bit crazy, but she wouldn't trade it for the world.

* * *

 **Omake**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

… **You have got to be kidding me. He's already making his move? This soon?**

 _Excuse me?_

…

 _Hey! Don't ignore me! Vanitas, what do you know?_

Shadow, noticeably, did not answer. Sora elected to ignore them. Instead, he decided to poke the strange new girl with the stick he'd picked up to spar with Riku. A little rude, maybe, but whatever.

The girl twitched. Then, blue eyes blinked open, gazing right up at him.

Sora stared at the girl.

The girl stared at him.

Before she could respond, before she could even think, Sora had swept her into his arms. The girl shrieked, a small eep escaping her lips as she gasped. Instinctively, her arms rose, wrapping around Sora's neck to keep herself balanced. Looking up, she stared into his eyes.

"Hello, beautiful. I'm Sora. What's your name?" Sora gave her a lopsided grin. As Kairi began to melt under the look, unknown to either of them(since Sora was mentally blocking the other pair out), the mental conversation continued.

 **It begins. I should have known this would happen. Oh, Ventus, what have we unleashed upon the world?**

… _Wait, we? What do you mean?_

 **My utter perfection merged with your… Well, whatever it is that you are, has created this. The world will never be the same.**

 _What are you talking about?_

 **You'll see. You'll see. Mark my words. You will all see.**

* * *

 ***Spongebob Narrator Voice***

 ***Ten Years Later***

Tidus grinned to himself. Slicking his hair back, he checked himself out in the mirror, making sure he hadn't missed anything while shaving earlier. Nope. Completely clean. Good, good.

Today was the day!

After weeks of dancing around each other, Tidus was finally going to ask Selphie out! He was pretty sure she felt the same way he did. 99 percent sure. Okay, okay, maybe she might not want some of this, but, I mean, come on? Tidus grinned at himself in the mirror again.

Who wouldn't want some of this?

Tidus nodded to himself. Yeah, this was it. He was gonna do it. He was gonna get the girl. He was going to win her heart. Tidus just hoped she'd say yes. He was pretty confident she would, but still, there was always that tiny possibility he was reading the signs wrong.

Tiny, but he was gonna go for it. The worst that could happen is that she'd say no and, yeah, things would be awkward for a bit but that was better than not doing anything and just looking back and wondering, what if?

Nope. Tidus was more of a take the world by storm kinda guy, and he was gonna do this.

* * *

"Wait, you're dating who?!"

Of all the possible scenarios, all the ways this could have played out, this, by far, was the one furthest from Tidus' mind. This was so far out there that all he could do was gape because, how? What? When? Where? Why?

He didn't need to ask the 'who'. He already knew the goddamn who!

"I'm dating Sora, Tidus." Selphie explained patiently, patting him on the arm in a condescending way that was having the opposite effect of soothing him. If anything, it made the boy twitch.

"But- but- but- he's dating Kairi!" Tidus exclaimed, jerking his arm away and motioning wildly.

It was true. Everyone knew Sora and Kairi were dating, and no one was surprised. Well. Tidus had been surprised. He still couldn't believe he'd lost that bet. While the rest of the school had been divided between SoKai and SoRiku, Tidus had wiseley chosen SoRiKai, which, as it turned out, was not a thing.

But, SoKaiSelph possibly was, apparently!

"I know. He's also dating me." Selphie confirmed Tidus' worst fears with a dreamy sigh. "Sora is such a good boyfriend. He's so loving and charming and he always makes time for each and everyone of us!" Selphie prattled.

Tidus grumbled. Okay, okay, so he had told himself that he would accept Selphie's choice, whatever it was, but this still kinda sucked because it had really come out of nowhere, but sti-

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Hold one goddamn minute.

"Everyone of you!?" Tidus said incredulously.

Selphie nodded.

"Of course. There's me and Kairi, obviously. Then, there's the Gullwings, Rinoa, Yuffie, Tifa, Aerith, Olette, Kairi's Grandmother, Mulan, the Seven Princess of Heart, Nani, Larxene, Namine, Xion, Jane, Kim Possible, Annabeth Chase, Hermione Granger, and Maleficent." Selphie listed.

Tidus' jaw dropped. Then, coming back to his senses, Tidus shook his head.

"Oh no, nope. Not falling for that one." Tidus said, unable to keep the bitter anger from his voice. Selphie looked confused.

"Not getting what?"

"Look, Selph. I get if you don't wanna date me. That's fine. I'll manage. But, that doesn't mean you've got to make some ridiculous lie about Sora having a massive harem bigger than our school!"

Selphie's confusion shattered. Shattered into anger as the girl huffed, stomping her foot in the ground, seemingly offended because Tidus was not eating her bullshit.

"I'm not lying!" she snapped. Tidus shot her a look that screamed skepticism. Huffing, Selphie rolled her eyes. "Come on, let me show you."

Then, before Tidus could protest, she had grabbed by by the arm and was dragging him along.

* * *

Holy…

She…

Selphie wasn't kidding.

How… What in the world!

There, before his eyes, Sora laid sprawled among a multitude of beautiful women, from the exotic Middle Eastern one to the Oriental Chinese chick to Kairi, who Sora was currently feeding grapes to because why not.

Luckily, they all had clothes on.

Selphie shot him a victorious look before leaping into the pile of bodies. In seconds, hands had carried her to the center, where Sora laid, and the boy had turned, looking up.

Sora shot her one of those sickenly lovey dovey looks before reaching out, taking Selphie in his arms, and proceeded to try and devour her soul through her lips.

O… Kay. Tidus was convinced. Completely and utterly convinced.

Sora had a harem.

More than a harem, he'd managed to hitch himself with every female character in the game and even a few that weren't in the game.

HOW!

"I stopped asking years ago. Sora's just got the charm, I guess."

Tidus jumped. Spinning around, he turned and glared at the newcomer.

"Riku! When'd you get here?"

The silver haired teen eyes him up and down.

"Selphie texted me. Said she was bringing you over so you could see the Truth." Riku gestured in the general direction of Sora somehow managing to pay attention to each and every member of his massive harem.

"So you decided to come enjoy my suffering?" Tidus accused, glaring at the other.

Riku rolled his eyes.

"No, silly. I came for this."

Then, before Tidus could stop him, Riku planted one right on him. It was nowhere near as… Passionate as the one Sora had subjected Selphie to, but there was no denying what it was.

Riku had just kissed him. Right on the mouth.

Tidus wasn't surprised Riku was into guys. You'd have to be blind to not see the way he was into Sora, although apparently that relationship was either entirely one sided or Riku was unwilling to share Sora with an army of women.

Tidus personally bet it was the latter.

Still…

"What was that!" Tidus reeled back, shocked.

"If Sora's getting all the chicks, _I'm_ gonna get all the dicks." Riku said, shrugging it off as if he hadn't just said he was planning on making a harem as big as Sora's, only one made of dudes.

Tidus looked at the silverhaired teen, wide eyed, before glancing back at Sora, still frolicking among the girls.

It was in that moment that Tidus made a rather impulsive decision.

"Eh. Fuck it. Might as well." Tidus conceded.

Riku smirked. Then, arms wrapped around Tidus, pulling him in before Riku's lips descended on him once more.


	11. Nightmares

A/N: Playing KH III made me want to update this. Poor Vanitas. And poor Kairi. And poor Aqua. On the bright side, almost everyone got their happy ending, so I'm happy about that

Also, for the record, I'm still mostly convinced Vanitas was in Sora until DDD. Young Xehanort explicitly stated Sora's wary was a prison and Vanitas showed up right after he said it and Vanitas only comes back afterwards? Nope, nope, Van was totally in there. I shan't be convinced otherwise.

Published: 2/06/2018

Warnings: Vague KH III spoilers in the form of dreams

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Nightmares**

Sleep was a commodity that Vanitas did not get often. To say he was in constant pain was an understatement. True, he now had a more solid for, but beneath the skin Vanitas' flesh practically boiled, bubbling just below the surface. Trying to get comfortable was an utter pain, so, when Vanitas finally managed it, he'd usually sleep like a babe.

Anyone who disturbed said sleep would be Punished with a capital P. This included Xehanort, who had learned the hard way that trying to get his apprentice to rise was the most likely way to get attacked by a horde of rampaging Unversed.

So, long story short, Vanitas did not like getting his sleep disturbed since he so rarely got it. Unfortunately, his precious commodity was cut short and Vanitas couldn't even do anything about it properly because a nightmare, of all things, had startled him awake and how utterly pathetic was it that he was having one of those again?

A nightmare and, perhaps, something more.

Vanitas' eyes snapped open as he shot up with a hiss.

Wha- what? What was that? Vanitas' hand rose of its own volition, gripping painfully at his chest. The pain coursing through him felt too real, far too real to come from a nightmare, regardless of what Vanitas knew to be true. It felt real and it hurt!

Hurt.

It hurt… It hurt, it hurt, it hurt! Vanitas wasn't even sure why he was hurting, why his heart was crying out like this to him. He hadn't… He hadn't felt this much pain, so sharply and hotly, since those early days when he kept slaying Unversed so they wouldn't harm Ventus' comatose form.

And that little shit claimed Vanitas had never done anything for him. Hmph. Ventus was a brat. A forgetful brat with memory problems worse than Dory the fish.

Okay. Vanitas was exaggerating a bit. Even Ventus wasn't that bad.

Oh wait. Vanitas took that back. So took that back. Ventus had literally forgotten he'd fought in a KEYBLADE WAR. Ventus had forgotten and Vanitas alone had to carry the horrors of the atrocity that had birthed him because Ventus was an ignorant little piece of-

"Shadow? Shadow, what's wrong?"

Vanitas blinked.

Somehow, Sora had made his way into Vanitas' bedroom without Vanitas noticing. Considering said bedroom was conjured by Vanitas' inside Sora's head, this was not surprising. Still. If Vanitas was bad at being woken up early, Sora came to a close second, complete with raining lightning down on Vanitas and Ventus once when they'd awoken him early.

Regardless of being woken, Sora didn't look angry or mad. No. The eight year old was staring at Vanitas in complete and utter concern and love and no one had ever looked at him like that and it did things, annoying things, to that twisted organ that pumped Vanitas' blood day in and day out and- and- and...

This boy was far too precious for this world, Vanitas decided. Maybe Sora was a Princess of Heart. True, they weren't supposed to be male, but maybe Sora threw a wrench in that operation just because he wanted to.

An innocent light that Vanitas would not burden with his problems. His nonexistent problems. It was all in his head anyways, so it hardly mattered.

"It's nothing, Sky. Go back to sleep." Vanitas told the boy.

Sora frowned. Before Vanitas knew what was happening, he had a lap full of Sora who was glaring at him while his hands rose to grip at Vanitas' bare shoulders.

"You aren't nothin' so stop pretending you are! You matter!" the child shook him.

Vanitas blinked rather stupidly. In other words, he impersonated Ventus for a full ten seconds before reaffirming himself.

Vanitas narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"You are a child and I won't place my problems on your shoulders." Vanitas said firmly. Or anyone's shoulders, really. Vanitas was content to deal with his own problems, as he always had and he wasn't about to change.

Sora rolled his eyes.

"We are literally the exact same age," the boy reminded Vanitas.

…

Ah. True. Very weird considering Vanitas was a muscular teenager and Sora was a literal bouncing child, but true.

"If you tell me about your nightmare, I'll tell you mine." Sora bargained.

Vanitas blinked. He was unaware Sora had nightmares. How was beyond him since he literally lived here, but apparently he had in fact missed it. Still…

"Your bartering skills need work, kiddo." Vanitas told Sora.

Sora sniffed.

"Tell me or I'm summoning Ventus." Sora threatened in an act of utter betrayal.

Vanitas took it back. Sora was no Princess of Light. He was a Scion of Darkness.

"I've already been summoned and both of you are loud."

Vanitas groaned as Ventus appeared out of thin air beside him, only to flop down face first onto the bed, close his eyes, and snore.

"This is not sleepover night." Vanitas twitched.

Ventus opened a single eye to stare at him.

"It is now. 'Sides, you're warm and I was cold and I'm not leaving and you can't stop me so shuddup and be nice about it."

Sometimes, Vanitas was surprised what four years of being stuck together in an enclosed space had done to them. He never thought the day he'd get along with Forgeti McGetisum would arrive, but it had. Ventus only yelled at him about his misdeeds with Xehanort every other week now, which was a step in the 'no more headaches' direction, so Vanitas was all for it.

"Shadow," an insistent hand slapped lightly at Vanitas' cheek. Looking up, he gazed into Sora's concerned gaze. "It's not nothin' and I'm not leaving you alone."

Vanitas opened his mouth.

"You might as well spill," Ventus yawned, "you were projecting so much pain that even I felt it."

Holy crap, if even Ventus had noticed then Vanitas definitely needed to get a handle on his emotions. Ventus was slower than molasses.

(Okay, okay, so Vanitas still wasn't over Ventus' 'at least I have some' line and had been mentally berating the other for years over it. It had been mean and unnecessary and honest if Vanitas was willing to admit, but cruel all the less)

Vanitas turned to Sora. The child's determination had not once waived. Vanitas sighed. Whatever. He'd speak. It was stupid anyways. Once Sora realized that, he'd stop pestering Vanitas and leave him alone.

"I dreamed… I dreamed I was fighting an older you. You were attacking me and Ventus was attacking me and the pair of you struck me down. One of you shattered half my helmet and, as I stood there fading, we talked." Vanitas explained. Ventus sat up slightly, curious. Sora was paying rapt attention, unusual for the boy. "I… I told the pair of you that I was darkness. That I chose that, that it's all I wanted. I stood there, ranting to the two of you that you were my brothers and that I was standing beside you by standing in your shadows and… You two just… You two just let me." Vanitas winced at how pathetic he sounded, even to himself. "Well, Ventus just let me." Vanitas corrected. "Apathetic little brat just shrugged, but you, Sora? You yelled at me. Yelled, but not much else. You let me fade and- okay, this is stupid, it was just a dream and-"

Vanitas was interrupted by arms wrapping around him as Sora dug his head into the crook of Vanitas' neck. Vanitas froze.

"Never… I'd never leave you to drown, Shadow. Never." Sora promised. "Older me wouldn't either. Maybe he couldn't do anything then, but he'd never forget an' he'd find you and he'd save you."

Vanitas felt a part of him break.

It… It hurt again. Gods, it hurt so much. It hurt, but… At the same time… There. Something more. Something different. Behind the red hot phasing through him was a light, bright and pure and… And Vanitas latched on.

It made the numbness go away. It cooled at the flames, cooled at the fire. It… Hope. It was hope.

Great. Vanitas had spent far too long with the white hats. He was starting to sound cheesy.

A hand landed on Vanitas' free shoulder. Looking to the side, he stared at Ventus.

"Van… I know we don't get along most of the time, but I wouldn't abandon you either. You know that, right?"

Vanitas swallowed.

He finally got it. He finally understood. He understood what had hurt so much, what had made him feel so weak, so pathetically weak. What made him feel terrified.

He was scared of falling back into the dark. He was scared of drowning in it, alone, with no one bothering to care enough to drag him out of it, even as he pleaded for it.

No. Not plead. Vanitas would never plead. He was far too proud for that. He'd go down with a malicious smirk on his face, cackling on the outside even as he broke on the inside.

"Do you understand?" Ventus repeated. "I'm not leaving you. I'll admit, I was annoyed at first, and there's still a lot I don't get, but I do understand that you aren't anywhere near as bad as I first assumed- and I'm sorry I never reached out to you before. I should have."

Vanitas snorted. Unfortunately, it came out far more choked than he would have liked.

"If you had, I'd have stabbed you." Vanitas reminded.

Ventus laughed. Not a sane reaction to being threatened with bodily harm but hey, Vanitas had come from Ventus and, frankly, he had to his insanity from somewhere.

Sora leaned back.

"Okay, my turn." the eight year old proclaimed. Vanitas blinked. Erm. What? "I dreamed me, Riku, and Kairi were in a big fight. Kairi hadn't been in a fight before but for some reason we decided she should be in a warzone for her first real fight and she got captured by this creepy baldly and- and- and he broke her into pieces and it was scary!" Sora wailed before burying himself back into Vanitas shoulder.

Wha- what?

Vanitas blinked up at Ventus over Sora's shoulder. The other boy sat up, wide eyed.

"Man… Now I feel kinda bad about my dream." Ventus scratched the back of his neck.

Still sniffing, eyes red and puffy, Sora pulled back before looking at Ventus.

"Why? What happened in your dream?"

"I dreamed Xehanort had me and Aqua tied up in chains and Terra showed up, broke out of his control, and put an all holy beat down on Xehanort with your help." Ventus admitted.

"... Why do you get the good dreams?" Vanitas whined before going back to comforting Sora who had, to Vanitas pleasant surprise, giggled madly at Ventus' dream before demanding to hear more.

Weird, weird dreams.

As Vanitas was finally dozing off again, his eyes snapped back open as a cool realization hit him.

Old creepy baldy…

Vanitas glanced down at Sora snoring away between him and Ventus(the kid managed to sleep inside his own head while he was already asleep. Vanitas could only aspire to have that kind of sleeping skill).

Sora had described Xehanort. As far as he knew, while he and Ventus had mentioned Xehanort before, there was no reason Sora should know anything about the old coot. So, the question then became… How did Sora know anything about the old man?

Just how real has those dreams been?

Vanitas groaned. Nope. Nope. Noooo. He was wayyy too tired to deal with this shit. He'd worry about it when he woke up. Nope, nope, nope, bedtime, now.


	12. Worldlines

A/N: Ventus' lines about coffee were painful to write. So, so painful. Coffee Gods, forgive this heathen, for he has sinned

Also, for the record, I dislike Eraqus more than Xehanort. I like to avoid characters I dislike that much since I don't want to needlessly bash them, but Eraqus comes up in this chapter

Published: 2/16/2019

Warnings: Spoilers kinda? There's one for Union Cross, but it's pretty old so I'm not sure it counts. The dreams from the last chapter are mentioned but details aren't given.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **Wordlines**

Ventus, unlike his brothers, was definitely a morning person. The young teen was usually up before the sun itself, internal clock snapping him awake early on, typically right before dawn. Not only that, Ventus could also function perfectly fine on four hours of sleep.

Vanitas claimed that these facts were complete and utter proof Ventus was the real evil one all along and that suggesting otherwise was a conspiracy, but then again, Vanitas was a petty bitch that never let things go.

With a yawn, Ventus sat up. Blinking, Ventus looked around, surprise quickly etching itself onto his face. This definitely was not his room. Well. His fake room, anyways. Ventus was 99 percent certain this was Vanitas' room.

Discarded Ice cream bowls stained with chocolate that Vanitas hadn't even bothered to clean up even though they only existed because he'd thought them into being proved this was definitely Vanitas' room.

Well, that, and the Xehanort portrait on the wall riddled with darts. Why Vanitas had willing followed someone he adamantly hated was still beyond Ventus(since Vanitas refused to explain), but hey, that was Van for you.

How'd Ventus end up here, anyways? He supposed he might have migrated over in the middle of the night, but the why was beyond him. Maybe Ventus had sleepwalked?

Soft snoring reached Ventus' ears. Titling his head, Ventus realized Sora was snuggled up a bit away, clutching tightly to a pillow, drooling all over the thing.

Ventus cooed.

"... Did you seriously just do that? Gods, you're so embarrassing."

Ventus jumped, eyes darting towards the door. There stood a shirtless Vanitas, leaning in the doorway, sipping coffee. Simulated coffee that Vanitas had willed into existence, so how it was effective at all was beyond Ventus. Why anyone bothered drinking the stuff was also beyond Ventus, but Vanitas was an addict, hands down.

Once the shock had worn off, Ventus rolled his eyes.

"Oh, please. Like you don't think Sora is adorable too." Ventus accused.

"Sora is my precious destroyer of worlds." Vanitas said shamelessly.

Ventus gave Vanitas a flat look, face rested in the palm of his hand.

"Sora's gonna be a Savior, you nincompoop."

Vanitas winced.

"I certainly hope not. Saviors don't get happy endings."

Elsewhere, Emma Swan, who'd inexplicably cheated her destiny and was currently leading a long, happy life, sneezed.

"I- can't refute that, actually." Ventus winced. He knew he sure as hell didn't get a happy ending. And, while he wasn't entirely sure what had happened to Terra and Aqua, he knew they hadn't gotten one either.

Terra definitely did not get one. Ventus didn't like thinking of Terra, or the whole possession plot Vanitas had reluctantly revealed, since doing so not only made Ventus furious, it made him want to hit Vanitas repeatedly since neither of them were entirely sure how it had went down.

Vanitas, seemingly sensing the road of turmoil Ventus' thoughts and emotions were taking him to, decided to change the subject.

"Anyways, while brat boy is sleeping- and seriously, only Sora could fall asleep while asleep, lazy little sky, we've got a few things to discuss." Vanitas said.

Ventus eyed the other wearily, only then realizing that while Ventus himself was typically up early, Vanitas was a chronic insomniac that took hours to fall asleep and then refused to leave for any reason afterwards, even when he did wake. Which, of course, meant that Ventus was typically up first. That Vanitas was not only up before him, but was drinking liquid yuck to wake himself up properly, was telling.

Without another word, Vanitas spun and departed. The silent message was clear. Carefully, as to not wake Sora, Ventus got up, and followed.

* * *

Ventus blinked. Blinking, followed by twitching. Twitching, because Vanitas was so utterly fond of his goddamn mysteries and, and Ventus swore this wasn't a pun, 'keeping others in the dark' that it was seriously getting ridiculous.

"What do you mean, you think you, me, and Sora gazed into an alternate reality?" Ventus spluttered.

"Worldline." Vanitas corrected as he made his third cup of coffee. Yes. Third. When Ventus said addict, he meant addict. "And, not just any Worldline. Considering we all had the dream at the exact same time, I can only assume we were gazing into the main one."

Ventus clutched at his head.

"But, what does that even mean?! Like, seriously, this is confusing." Ventus complained.

Vanitas rolled his eyes.

"Ventus, you ignorant slut, you've traveled Worldlines before. Hell, it's how you managed to travel a thousand years into the present day in the first place."

Ventus froze.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but what? Time travel? What are you on about?"

Vanitas blinked.

"Oh. Right. I forgot, you forgot about the Keyblade War." Vanitas said, chugging more of his coffee, apparently not yet being fully awake.

Ventus stiffened.

"I remember that very clearly." Ventus said.

Vanitas had the gaul looked surprised.

"Wait, you do? How? When? Why? What?"

Ventus crossed his arms and glared.

"Yes, Vanitas, I remember fighting you and the X obsessed bald one with Terra and Aqua. I'm not an idiot." Ventus reminded the other.

Vanitas blinked once more before tossing his head back in laughter. Ventus' glare hardened. Must. Not. Hit. Must. Not. Hit.

"Oh gods, you actually almost had me there. I thought you'd actually remembered something important." Vanitas chortled.

Screw it.

"Owe! Is that… A frying pan? You're really trying to beat me with a frying pa- ouch!"

"Stand still so I can hurt you some more!"

* * *

It had taken Vanitas several minutes to calm Ventus down and continue with his explanations. Unfortunately, Roxas did not get his temper from Sora, contrary to popular belief, and instead got it from the human marshmallow that should not be angered.

Reality shaking revelations tend to anger people. Vanitas should have really known better.

(Spoiler: he totally knew better which was why he had put this conversation off for as long as possible)

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I FOUGHT IN THE ORIGINAL KEYBLADE WAR!" Ventus bellowed, understandably upset.

Vanitas glared.

"Do you want to wake Sora? Do you want to be put back in the Hamster Ball? You know, he'll put you back in the Hamster Ball if you wake him this early." Vanitas admonished.

"YOU CAN'T JUST DROP A BOMBSHELL LIKE THAT AND EXPECT ME TO BE CALM!"

"You're lucky I made a sound proof barrier." Vanitas sniffed. "Although, considering the volume you're going off at, I'm not sure how affective it'll be."

"WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING FROM ME? WHATS NEXT, ARE YOU GOING TO CLAIM XEHANORT WAS A MISGUIDED GOOD GUY AND HE AND ERAQUS WERE SECRET GAY LOVERS?"

"The old coots batshit, period, and every villain always thinks they're the good guy even when they blatantly aren't." Vanitas shrugged. "As for the second part, I honestly wouldn't be surprised, a piece of shit deserves to be with another shit, don't you think?"

"First of all, HOW DARE YOU? Xehanort was a monster, but Master Eraqus-"

"Eraqus tried to murder you for merely existing." Vanitas interrupted coldly, expression hardening. For a moment, his eyes glowed with malevolent fury, putting a quick stop of Ventus' tirade as his mouth snapped shit. "I don't care for the why or the how or the circumstances. Eraqus took you in, promised to care for you. But, when push came to shove and it really mattered, he decided that instead of trying to save you, he'd kill you, after spending years claiming that he loved you. Eraqus is a creature that is beneath my contempt."

Ventus honestly didn't know how to respond to that.

"I…"

"Anyways," Vanitas continued, "as I was saying beforehand, the dreams we had all seemed linked. If we really did look into the main Worldline, that means we're living in an alternate reality. Some sort of shift took place here that didn't take place there. Regardless, since that's the main timeline, it has considerable influence over the rest."

Ventus narrowed his eyes.

"Define 'influence'."

Vanitas looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"Alright, so, this is also something I should have mentioned earlier, but… I'm not entirely here, hehe?" Vanitas scratched the back of his head.

…

…

"The hell do you mean, you aren't entirely here!" Ventus demanded.

"Look, the fight at the Graveyard was pretty brutal and we merged and you stabbed yourself and I'm pretty sure a part of my essence got left behind." Vanitas said, not bothering to beat around the bush.

"... And you didn't think that was an important thing to mention earlier?!" Ventus said incredulously.

Vanitas shrugged.

"I honestly hadn't noticed." Vanitas claimed. At Ventus' disbelieving expression, Vanitas continued, "I've always felt incomplete, but being near you makes me feel whole. I only noticed now because I actually checked." Vanitas defended.

"I make you feel whole?"

Vanitas turned scarlet.

"Shut up, you deviant! This is serious!"

Ventus crossed his arms.

"As serious as me fighting in the first Keyblade War in the age of Fairy Tales?" Ventus questioned before another sudden realization hit him. Eyes widening in shock, his arms fell to his side. "Wait, does Xehanort know about all of this?"

It was Vanitas' turn to shoot Ventus an incredulous look.

"Ventus, you knucklehead, why in the hell would I tell any of this to that ancient twisted fossil? Gods knows he's already destructive enough as it is." Vanitas said.

"You followed him in the first place." Ventus reminded.

"I hardly had a choice." Vanitas all but growled. "And, to be blunt, I might not have a choice later on."

Ventus froze.

"Ventus, I- if it comes to it- I- I need you to-" Vanitas' voice began to hitch. Then, the others expression hardened as he gazed straight at Ventus. "If that happens, put an end to me."

 _"I'm asking you, as a friend... Just... Put an end to me."_

Ventus choked, a memory ripping itself into his head. Him, Terra, and Aqua at the Graveyard, and Ven's plea that they just finish him before it was too late because Eraqus' attack had shaken him that much.

They'd refused and maybe if they hadn't things would be different, maybe things would have been-

No. Ventus had asked his friends to kill him, and now his brother was standing in front of him doing the exact same, and only then did Ventus realize how twisted, how selfish such a demand was. How utterly heartbreaking it was.

He'd have to part of it. He refused.

Vanitas gasped as Ventus leapt forth, the smaller teen clinging to his chest similar to how Sora had last night.

"No. No, Van. I won't and I'm kinda pissed that you're asking that of me in the first place but I get where you're coming from. I know it's scary, but we'll make it through it. Somehow."

"I… How? How can you be so sure?" Vanitas asked, sounding lost.

Ventus pulled back and smiled.

"You don't. You just believe."

"Just… Just believe…" Vanitas repeated. "I- yeah. Believe. Alright. Believe."

Several hours later, after making sure both Sora and Ventus were out and down for the count, Vanitas took control of the body. Making his way out of Sora's bedroom, Vanitas snuck out of the house and to the one next door.

Sneaking up a wall was childsplay, even in such a tiny body. So it was that Vanitas reached his detonation, knocking away at a glass plain.

Riku opened the window, annoyed, rubbing at his eyes sleepily.

"Sora? What're you doin' here so early?" Riku yawned.

 **"Dawn,"** Vanitas greeted, revealing his own identity in the process. **"I have a story to tell you."**

Perhaps telling a nine year old such vital and important details and excharging him with killing Vanitas should Vanitas go rouge was a bad idea, but Vanitas had never claimed to make good decisions. Riku was also technically older than Vanitas, so, really, Vanitas was just taking his problems up with one of his elders and that wasn't so bad, was it?

Besides, it's not like Vanitas would unveil everything at once. Oh no. Where would the fun in that be? No. It would be better if Riku came to his own conclusions.

Then… When the time was right… Riku would do what the others could not.


	13. The Vanitas Incident of Classroom 13

A/N: So, the Sora-adopts-a-Flood incident has finally been written! I put it in a new story for One Shots relating to my stories in general, titled Infinite Oneshots.

Sadly, Blue didn't make it to this story since he eventually re-merges with Vanitas, but I might bring him back if you guys want me to.

Annnnnd yes, Vanitas was, in fact, talking about the Vanitas Remnant in the last chapter. Not gonna lie, I forgot about the Remnant.

My current Headcanon is that the Vanitas Remnant and Terra's Lingering Will have been hanging out and sparring with each other this entire time, and that's why Lingering Will is such a bitch to fight in KH II. Be glad he attacks alone, without his buddy for backup

Published: 2/27/2019

Warnings: None for this chapter

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 **The Vanitas Incident Of Classroom Thirteen**

"I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier…" Vanitas shook his head in self disappointment. Ventus must have rubbed off on him. That whole remerge thing had been a terrible idea from the get go. Sometimes, Vanitas couldn't quite believe he'd let Xehanort talk him into that one. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Anyways, moving on.

"I don't think this will work," Ventus said skeptically.

Vanitas glared at the heathen.

"Of course it will work." Vanitas informed his lesser half. "Sora's heart was able to contain us naturally and rather randomly, for no logical reason at all. I mean, really, what kind of newborn has the instinctive ability to reach out, find a fractured heart, and heal it?" Vanitas pointed out.

"... Touché." Ventus conceded.

"But, I still don't know how this is gonna work. I mean… How?" Sora asked, face scrunched in concentration, tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth as he walked back and forth, lost in thought.

Vanitas shrugged.

"It's simple, brat. The Unversed came from me, physical manifestations of my emotions." Vanitas told Sora. "Since you were able to contain us, and we share a utterly perfect appearance," Vanitas said, trailing fingers along his jawline while Ventus made a gagging sound in the background, "It stands to reason that you should be able to use abilities similar to ours."

Sora stared at him blankly.

"What does mani-festus mean," the little boy asked.

Oh. Right. Eight year old. Hm.

"It means," Ventus spoke, "that Vanitas stubbed his toe, got mad, and his mad came out as little annoying animals that ran around stubbing other people's toes." Ventus explained.

Vanitas spluttered as Sora laughed.

"That is not- okay, maybe that happened once, I'll admit- ah, hell, I should not have said that," Vanitas lamented as Ventus looked like Christmas had come early.

Sora's giggles ceased and his face scrunched in concentration once more.

"So, I gotsta stub my toe a couple of times then you guys will appear to attack whatever got my foot?" Sora asked, head slowly titling in the universal sign of I don't get it.

"No, no." Vanitas shook his head, "that was just Ventus doing his rock impersonation." Vanias said.

"Hey!"

"What you need to do is concentrate on the emotions you feel when you look at us and then… Then, you need to just let it out." Vanitas explained, bringing his hands inward before pushing them out to emphasize.

"But how?" Sora asked.

Vanitas shrugged.

"Beats me. I kinda just did it."

"Boy, you're helpful." Ventus rolled his eyes.

Vanitas responded by sticking his tongue out.

"Okay!" Sora exclaimed, fists bunched up as he jumped up and down a little. "I'll try it! I know you guys say you don't mind being stuck in here, but… You should get to see the sky with your own eyes, not just mine."

Then, Sora was gone before either of them could say a thing to him.

* * *

Kairi wasn't sure what was wrong with Sora. She was accustomed to Sora's face going through a myriad of emotions whenever he talked to Vanitas or Ventus, but this was… Notably different.

Even Riku was starting to look concerned, which told Kairi something was definitely up.

Well, maybe. Riku did look concerned, but not about Sora. Instead, the older boy looked lost in his own little world, ignoring everything around him.

The sound of the teacher banging on the chalkboard drew their attention. The three friends looked up.

"I apologize, am I boring any of you?" Miss Trepe asked.

"No, Miss Trepe." Kairi answered. Unfortunately, she answered alone. Sora seemed locked on his internal monologue and Riku looked way too much like a grownup for Kairi's liking, all serious and stiff.

Behind the glasses adorned on her youthful face, Miss Trepe narrowed her icy blue eyes.

Kairi quickly nudged both boys causing them to blink at her before Kairi motioned to their teacher. Miss Trepe had her hands on her hips and the look she shot the two boys promised homework. Lots and lots of homework.

"Can either of you two care to answer the question on the board?" Miss Trepe asked.

Riku looked up, eyes trailing along the numbers written along before speaking the answer, managing to state the response only a second after Sora.

Contrary to popular belief(weird belief too, Kairi wondered who spread the rumor), Sora could totally count.

Miss Trepe seemed satisfied with this, but not before a look of concern entered the teachers eyes. Uh oh. Miss Trepe also doubled as the the school counselor, which, considering how there weren't that many kids in the school to begin with, she could easily pull off. Because of that, it might mean she'd confront Riku and Sora later.

Well. As long as nothing too outlandish happened, they should be able to-

"I got it!" Sora exclaimed, one of his hands curling into a fist which he rapidly smashed into his open palm, drawing all attention. Then, there was a bright flash of light, and-

* * *

Meanwhile, earlier several minutes ago…

"So," Ventus began, looking up at Vanitas as they both sat cross legged in the sand at the play island, "You mentioned you thought there might be another you?"

Vanitas nodded. Ventus still wanted to hit the other over it, but Vanitas had honestly sounded like he'd been surprised at the discovery himself, so Ventus would hold out for now.

"Yes. A Remnant of myself, you could say." Vanitas explained.

"Huh. Weird." Ventus scrunched his nose. "I wonder what it's doing?"

Several worlds away, the Lingering Will and the Vanitas Remnant were locked in a fierce and bitter battle, a battle to end all days and all ages.

A legendary battle… Known as Uno.

"HA! Suck my dick! DRAW FOUR, bitch!" Vanitas Remnant exclaimed, slamming the card down in glee.

The Lingering Will, who had finally managed to get down to his last card, twitched. With a metallic screech, he tossed down his last card angrily.

"Hey!" The Vanitas Remnant cried out, "Don't be such a sore loser, Willie."

Ends of of the Earth flashed into Lingering Will's armored hand as he lunged. The Vanitas Remnant scrambled, dodging by merging into the ground before coming out in a shower of fire.

The two Keyblades locked as they engaged in eternal combat once more.

Back within Sora's Heart…

"Probably binding its time and attacking any pour hopeless soul that comes across it." Variants shrugged.

Ventus frowned.

"That's terrible!'

Vanitas waved this off. "Meh. It's trapped in the Keyblade Graveyard. No sane person would go there. Still, we should retrieve it when we get the chance, unless someone else does first."

Ventus paled.

"Wait… You don't think…"

"That Xehanort could find the part of me that isn't here and use it to control me? Yes, Ventus. Yes, I do think he could do that, which is why I asked you to stop me if need be." Vanitas snapped before shaking his head. "But, you're right, it was a dumb request. If Xehanort had it, we'd know by now."

Ventus narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean, you'd know?"

"I mean-" Vanitas began but he never got to finish.

Why, you ask?

In a bright flash of light, Ventus and Vanitas found themselves sprawled out in the middle of an elementary grade classroom surrounded by a dozen random children while Sora stood atop his desk cheering, fists pumping in the air.

Ventus groaned, rising to his feet before face palming.

"Sora, why are we in your class?"

Because, while getting out was the idea (even if it wouldn't last since these bodies weren't exactly stable), doing so in the middle of class with a dozen witnesses was not part of the program!

Oh. Wait. They'd never explained that to Sora. It should have been one of those no brainer things, but… Well… Sora. Little eight year old Sora.

Ventus was blaming Xehanort for this whole mess.

"'Cause I figured it out and didn't wanna wait, dummy." Sora told him bluntly before jumping at him. Ventus oomphed as Sora knocked him back down, little arms wrapping around him as Sora hugged him.

Vanitas took one look around, eyed the teacher who was looking at them with fright in her eyes, and then decided to be the utter asshole everyone knew him to be by cackling evilly while summoning dark hellfire in his hands.

A few kids screamed.

Ventus looked at the teacher.

"Er. I can explain?"

The woman could be forgiven for fainting.


End file.
